The Hunter Club
by Nispedana
Summary: In a semi-secret club comprised of a spoiled brat, a pretty scholarship student, the daughter of the police chief, the son of a mafia lord, along with their narcissistic adviser... what could happen?
1. Entrance

**WARNING: **This is a **Fem! Kurapika, Gon, and Male! Neon** Story. Pairings (minus the yinyang pair, of course) are not final. ;)  
**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own the Hunter X Hunter Characters.

Thank you for clicking the link and feedback would deeply appreciated~

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**…**

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**CHAPTER 1: Entrance  
**

NISPEDANA HIGH

It was a beautiful spring morning in the country of Jappon, the constantly cool breeze keeping every and each person comfortable in warm clothing everyday of the year. The soft-colored cherry blossoms bloomed- -never wilting- -every single day of the year.

On a certain area at the country's center- -both in the literal and political sense of the word- -a familiar sound of congregation conquered the air. Teenagers, a few adults, and a few cars were coming together and each one casually passed through a beautifully extravagant gate. It was the first thing one would see once they near the property where the only private school in the city reside. It was also the academic institution in the country. So it was not surprising that a premium was placed on its landscaping, albeit a few newcomers would beg to differ.

And the awe, despite having high expectations of the place, definitely showed in their faces.

A wonderfully large amount, and variety, and flora was located strategically letting the school's users experience being one with nature, even when feeling the academic spirit of the place. And even with its quasi-open design, the security was intense albeit practically invisible. So the students could just walk around, relax, study, and eat without a hint of worry in their spoiled little heads.

In fact, one of the top (well, economically) students had a supposedly 'big' problem: boredom. He was just passively passing by the halls, with his bodyguards tailing him, and waving at those who greeted him.

"Neon-sama~" A few girls said. They were a few of his fangirls, he knew, and he'd rather not disappoint them, so he smiled his political smile- -the one he developed these past few years, as he was barely introduced in public before. And yes, when he finally got to have a social life, he found that image was everything.

_Tap Tap Tap_

A few more corridors and he soon reached the threshold of his homeroom that year. He slightly turned his head to Vaise, one of his guards, but was a little lazy to actually look at her. "This is it, right?" He asked as he stared blankly at the plank that stated '3A'.

"Hai." the brunette, who had her hair tied in a bun that day, said monotonously.

Neon then let Banshou, his other guard, to open the knob and enter before him. It was something everyone was used to. So when they saw Banshou, the people within the classroom already expected him to follow. Again, he was greeted enthusiastically and he replied with a smile.

He stood there near the door for a while, as he was flocked by his peers. It had been like this in the past years of his school life. Which was to say 3 years. He was only allowed to go to school by his abnormally protective father when he (and his bodyguards) convinced him that locking him up wouldn't do any good. If anything, it would only raise suspicion of his value. Besides, he was already 16 then. He knew very well that if it wasn't for his abilities, that old man would not be where he was.

And Neon did not hesitate using that against him.

In retrospect his methods in getting what he wanted was evolving to more mature and smarter methods since then and it only improved until the present. He attributed it to his amazing brain, and dismissed the idea of it being the influence of his personal tutor even before it came to his consciousness.

"Neon-sama!" A random fan called his name pulling him out of his trance. "I heard about your father's success in the construction industry- -didn't he just enter the field, too...? It's amazing, he was new to the field and yet he was able to predict that that type of resin would increase value like that!"

It was probably due to his predictions, but as much as he wanted to brag, he wasn't allowed to. Something about people trying to kidnap him and such. So he just smiled and said the compliment would reach his father.

A few girls swooned and a few others continued sending praises, some mentioning his father's amazing foresight.

Mentally, he was feeling ambivalent. A part, the large one, loved the attention. Another, just wanted to be left alone so that he'd have more time to-

A small creak was heard and the classroom silenced down, as if on cue. He stiffened, shook it away, and acted apathetic as he always did. Cool and calm... just like _her_.

"Ah. There she is." A guy who was swooning over him a moment ago mumbled as he openly stared at the newcomer. "The Ice Queen."

A tall, pretty girl entered the room. She was definitely one of the most beautiful girl in the school— with her flowing blond hair, enticing blue eyes, and silky pale skin- -not that he'd admit that. She entered seemingly oblivious of the stares. But of course he just knew she was just good at ignoring them.

He had to learn that the hard way.

It was then that she oh-so-timely shifted her gaze at him. It was only for an instant, but their eyes still met.

_Doki_

They simultaneously looked at other places. She passively walked pass him and to her seat at the farthest right way at the last row. She went to this school the same time he did and albeit she wasn't chosen as the representative, she never failed in surprising everyone by constantly being at the (academic) top. Apparently it was one of the conditions for a full-scholarship.

It was also one of the conditions to remain his tutor.

"Neon-boccama. I think it's time for you to take your seat now." Bashou said teasingly. He would love to wipe that arrogant smirk of that prying guard's face, but he was in public. Not to mention he was a known elite. He had to keep his image.

His eyes twitched and finally sat back down.

"We'll be going now, bocchan." Banshou said and Vaise just waved as they went to the quarters, which was actually right at the back of the classroom. The teachers had been used to them by now.

As he sat though, Neon realized that Banshou was in an especially talktative mood that day.

"When are you two going to start speaking in school?" the bulky man whispered and Neon frowned.

They pretended not to know each other simply because she was such a low-income girl he'd rather not come close with in public.

So there he was… just watching her from afar when they were in school as if she was some artefact in one of the museums he liked visiting. He was always fond of things that turned off most people. In fact, not even his closest friends knew of his collection. Not only was it basically illegal, but it was…well… disturbing.

He recalled the first time he and Kurapika met- -but he cut himself off from the line of thought immediately. He'd rather not remember.

Neon was about to tell Banshou to buzz off when the door slip open again, revealing handsome young man win honey-brown hair and a wide friendly grin.

"Yow. Neon." It was Shalnark, who nonchalantly raised his hand to greet his friend. The boy was the only son of the inventor of 'Mango' the leading brand for gadgets in the country. The techno-geek casually sat down beside him and stared at the blackboard with him.

Neon ignored the fact that Shalnark whipped his head towards another direction and leaned to him and went all whispery. "Ne, the Ice Queen's looking prettier than ever."

_Twitch_

"Why don't you talk to her, then?"

"Naw. I might get killed." Shalnark joked, seemingly oblivious to how Neon's voice cracked. "Why don't you talk to her? You get anything you want right? Surely you can charm h-"

His eye twitched again.

"No, I would rather not taint my hands with her poorness."

And with that, Shalnark sweat-dropped, pretending to have no idea what their relationship was.

"Ha…"

**…**

*Meanwhile*

Kurapika let out a deep breath. Seriously, had that boy still unaware of her acute hearing? She could hear every word…

She shrugged and continued to look down. She passively looked at the new students entering the gate and going straight to the auditorium. They were freshmen, obviously, and the different color coding they had on their uniforms only ensured her that. She continued to stare as if they were leaves floating with the wind.

She didn't know why though- -but suddenly she was pulled out of her apathetic staring. There was a leaf, who for some reason, that stood out amongst the rest.

It was a young boy. He had fiery silver hair and a blank, emotionless, expression in his face. He was walking in his own, slow, pace as he had his hands on his pocket. Soon the boy went out of sight, and she gestured to enter to Lalaland again. It didn't take long, though, for another freshman to catch her attention.

_Odd._ This kid was the complete opposite of the other one. It was a cute little girl with silky raven hair tied up in a pony tail. She looked a little younger than she probably was, too. She had a pretty smile pasted on her face, obviously excited at the sight of her new school.

'_How cute.'_

But when she felt her mouth moving for a smile, she caught herself and opened her notebook to stare at long had it been since she found something 'cute'. Unlike most girls, it had been hard on her to find them, and frankly she didn't know what to make of the advent of that changing.

Was she becoming like normal girls now, she wondered...

As trivial as the issue was, she still heavily disliked that thought. She frowned and forced herself to study. And thankfully, the professor soon came with some new materials that would distract her.

* * *

GARDEN, Lunch Time

Noon. The warmest part of the day, but still cool enough for their double-layered long-sleeved uniforms to remain comfortable to wear. The grass were never dry- -and they were as green and lush as they were during the morning.

A hand was absent-mindedly analyzing a piece of grass taken out of the ground.

"The grass looks interesting." a boy, who wasn't the hands' owner, said making the actual owner flinch and let it go.

"Just eat, Shalnark." Neon muttered and continued to eat his. The girls who asked to join them chuckled at the apparently 'cute' shota scene that they made.

They were currently on a lawn in one the school's many quadrangles. It was one of the two where the school's best known students, hung out. The school's best gardens also surrounded the place, and cherry blossoms circled its radius. The area was then, inevitably, called the 'Garden of Eden'.

Shalnark was eating with Neon and his body guards. They were given more than enough space by the other students. It was then that Squala arrived from a phone call with a piece of paper and ballpen. Neon's companions stared at the guard, and the Indian only shrugged.

"For one of your father's friends." Was all he said and Neon nodded after sighing lazily. Neon knew better than ask if it could wait. Besides, he probably thought he should get it over with.

"Ghost Writer." the other boy called quietly and raised a hand with a nen spirit coming out of his body, sucking the light in his eyes. Neon and his body guards though thought that he, along with the other students, could not see nor even sense the nen Neon was emitting. even the lost of life in his eyes were practically invisible to the normal eyes.

Shalnark stared in awe but hid it well. He, as always, pretended to not have the capability to use nen and told himself to start nonchalantly looking around in boredom. It was during that that he saw a flash of a very familiar woman with short blond hair.

'_Pakunoda?'_ he mused in surprise but then dismissed any idea of following her. They must be there for something that didn't involve him and he'd rather not have them think of him as the curious little brat that he was.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder what one of his childhood friends could be doing here though…

_Sigh_

He had to admit he missed them. They hadn't been together for a while now, ever since they parted all those years ago…

He shrugged and then shifted back to Neon who had just returned and handed the paper to Squala. The Indian soon walked away, presumably to deliver the prophecy.

"So…" he initiated. "I wonder where Kurapika-san's eating her lunch." He thought out-loud, particularly to shake away the sentimentality that attacked him. Besides, he knew Neon had a thing with the Ice Queen and with his talent in prying he found out she had been tutoring him since she transferred in a year ago.

And God knew just how much he _loved_ teasing.

"That's none of our business, Shalnark." Neon snapped. "You go look for her if you want to."

"Then I would leave you all alone here." He smiled slyly and Neon frowned.

"Neon-sama's not alone." One of the girls pouted. "But what do you see in _her, _anyway, Shalnark-kun?"

"You mean like the other guys?" he asked slyly and the girls frowned. He knew well how the girls disliked the attention the scholarship student got. A few even tried to bully Kurapika before, but none really stayed. She was too admirable, even Shalnark could testify to that.

"...except me, of course." Neon stated, and who knew who he was tryiing to convince.

Shalnark smirked and then stood up and he could see Neon was surprised that he actually was going to do as he said. Neon even opened his mouth to protest but wasn't able to think of rational enough words. So he shut up and muttered silent curses before begrudgingly returning to his food.

He walked away at a torturous (for Neon) speed, stretched, and even muttered things like 'I wonder if she'd talk with me~'

Banshou chuckled knowingly and Vaise just smirked. "Ah, Neon-sama." She called, earning a '_What?'_ glare from the maroon-headed boy.

Vaise smiled and pointed at his fork un-culturally stabbing the high-quality rice harvested just for them.

"Please don't vent your annoyance on the food."

* * *

Meanwhile on a small, secluded, area within the other side of school grounds sat the aforementioned lone girl with blonde hair. She was eating demure cuts from her bento as another hand held up a difficult book. She had always been there. She liked it peaceful, especially when there weren't people making basically showing off the aura that they wanted her to acknowledge their presence.

Don't get her wrong- -she was a polite girl. But anything more than a nod was troublesome. She didn't need any friends. All she had to do was focus in her studies. It was basically all that she could do at the moment, anyway. She shook a few recurring thoughts away and forced herself back to the book.

She did not even notice the watchful eyes watching her from the top floor.

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_Tap Tap Tap_

The sound of high-heels echoed across the noisy halls of the administrative office. They turned to its source and saw a beautiful blonde with short blonde hair, wearing a rather revealing set of clothing.

"Pakunoda-san!" A random woman said and the blonde nodded in acknowledgement.

Pakunoda continued to walk casually across the hall, earning the respectful nod of those who knew her, and the shameless gapes of those who didn't. Yet.

In any case, everyone who saw her stared. She was wearing a rather formal suit opened up to show enough skin for her comfort (since her chest area was too big for _any_ shirt she wore) and wore an extremely short skirt. But not once did her observers think of her as wearing something indecent. If anything, she emitted an aura of sophistication.

"Pakunoda-san?" Soon, a voice, much smaller than the ones earlier, greeted her as she opened the above-average wooden door. The woman was surprised, obviously not expecting her.

"Is Hanamura-sensei here?" The girl nodded, stood up, and showed her the Principal's office. "They will have a short meeting afterwards though…" the girl added meekly.

"It's fine. I'm just here to deliver a short message." The girl gulped in nervousness before finally leaving her to the door.

"Hanamura-sensei." She called quietly and the more-than-healthy man flinched and stood up. She coolly went inside the room and closed the door.

"The president's here."

"Eh? How come I wasn't informed?" He voiced out, ensuring whoever forgot to tell him would get fired. It was bad enough he wasn't able to greet him during his entry, but that man _rarely_ went to the school! That meant the man was here for something important.

"Don't worry. He purposely went here unseen."

"I see." The old man just muttered, relieved. He knew of their stealth, so even with the security measures he put up, he didn't mind them remaining untraced. They were both powerful people, he knew, and he wasn't only speaking about their political abilities…

"I'll go see him right away."

"You can finish your meeting. He's in no rush." She said, recalling him saying that before they parted. "It will only last for at most an hour, yes?"

"Hai. I'll be there as soon as its finished."

"Okay." Pakunoda said dismissively and walked away.

**.**

She arrived at the rarely-occupied floor a few minutes of casual walking later. She stood by the pompous double door and opened it, immediately letting her sights catch a classically Victorian-styled room. She ignored the small library in the receiving area and proceeded to office. It was lit solely by the window that wasn't even open enough to let a comfortable amount of wind in.

She watched the handsome raven-haired man passively, knowing well he knew what she was doing. He continued ignoring her and did not stop looking outside the window with such blunt interest that made the usually dismissive Pakunoda feel curious.

But knowing him for the past 10 years, even when they had parted ways and only met 2 years prior- -when he had gone very far from where they were, he always wanted his cronies to state their official business first.

"The Principal will come in 15 minutes or so." And that she did.

He smiled, obviously liking the wait, but did not even look at her. Pakunoda sighed and casually placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight to a leg—her only way of slouching.

"You've been staring at that window for a while now." She stated but he did not flinch.

"I was?" he asked feigning innocence, finally pulling his gaze away from the transparent vitreous surface. "The school _is_ very beautiful after all."

"And...?"

He chuckled. "What? I was just admiring what I was… made responsible for."

Pakunoda knew him well enough to know it was some kind of understatement. But the fact that her boss was acting all mysterious again, she knew he would not tell her what she wanted.

So she shrugged, and casually sat down a random upholstered chair... thinking that some things...?

They just never change.

.

But of course, most things do.

And a few kids would learn that soon.

**.**

**END OF CHAPTER 1**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 2: Meetings**

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**...**

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Thanks for reading~

I would love to read what you thought! :D**  
**


	2. Meetings

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter

**WARNINGS: **Please make sure you have read the first chapter and not just the '**preview**'. I have also proofread it (finally!) so a few changes here and there were made. Only minor ones though. ;)

I also based the year levels on _appearance_. Dunno what they're actual age are, anyway, and I needed to minimize making OCs. ^^

Thank you for the support guys! Especially those who reviewed, fav'ed, subscribed, and C2d the story~ Hope you like this new chapter and feedback would be extremely appreciated. ^^

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…

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**CHAPTER 2: Meetings**

NISPEDANA HIGH, Earlier 

_Amazing_

_Pretty!_

_SUGOOII!_

Those were but a few of the enthusiastic adjectives that ran through young Antigone's head as she entered her new school's gates. Her raven hair, which she finally grew out, was held back by a dark green hair tie.., and it flowed gracefully with her as she strode. For the most part, though, she remained oblivious of the people staring—attracted by the positive energy she naturally emitted.

The campus was a wonderful, wonderful, and somewhat exotic place for her. Her head was everywhere. Not literally, but it was definitely everywhere, even the clouds. She ended up admiring the long arcaded corridor on one of the buildings' ground floor. Her brain automatically let her imagine herself walking across it, with new friends. Next, she looked behind that building and saw a Quonset partly covered by the foregrounding building and the large tree. The roof was green…

She suddenly imagined herself sliding along the dangerously convex roof.

She chuckled and then looked at another side and another set of intricately designed buildings dominated the view. Over all there were 4 buildings easily seen from the gates. She wondered how many more behind were there and she _couldn't wait_ to explore.

After all, putting aside her natural adventurousness, she _had_ just moved in from the country side. It was due to her father's job, and she was used with a very humble academic building. The school she used to go to comprised of no more than 2 buildings.

And _not to mention_ there were so many students—not to mention most are of her age—walking around! _By her side_!

She nearly jumped in excitement.

But of course, she knew when her childishness was inappropriate. She was 16 years old now, after all, Mito-san had more than enough time to teach her manners, etiquette, etcetera etcetera, this and that, and those other things she was apparently supposed to know.

_Speaking of Mito-san…_

Her body automatically slumped back at the line-of-though. Her energy-filled figure losing most of its initial energy making her almost blend in with the surrounding crowd.

She was really, really, _really_ missing her aunt. Only she and her father moved to the capital, after all. Actually, only her father was supposed to officially move out but she forced him to take her with him. After all..., he had rarely been home and when he was he was- -well, he usually just threw her to the most dangerous parts of the forest and make her stay there for a few days. The only instruction he gave her was: _Survive_.

Pushing those out-of-context ponderings aside, she pulled herself together and went to find wherever the opening ceremony was going to be held. She observed her surroundings (in awe, of course) during her short walk there. She soon saw a large building—one behind the largest one- -where the students seemed to be entering.

It was large and boxy, but the ornaments on all sides were so nicely curved that Gon found herself mentally swirling around with them. Her eyes ended up (eventually) on a sign stating it was the auditorium.

She blinked and her hand automatically went to rummage her skirt pocket for a piece of paper containing the instructions she needed. Frankly, the first time she saw the paper she quickly thought of this whole thing as a challenge for her since she had always gone by instinct. The only pure intellectual endeavors she went through were due to Mito-san's guidance on the schooling thing.

In any case, she narrowed her eyes, not because she had a hard time reading but because it was her serious-face. It came in as a habit, and it was the reason why her father seemed to never lose the knack of teasing her...

"Ah." She read it one more time- -just to be sure.

8:30 – Freshman Orientation – Auditorium  
9:30- Homeroom- Room 125

Yep, yep. She was at the right place. Not that she hadn't forgotten she was looking for it in the first place. And for a moment there her heart thumped out of nervousness and excitement.

'_This is it! I'm finally going to school with children my age. So many of them, too!'_ were her last thought before she gleefully entered the building.

.

The murmurs she got accustomed to from the outside turned to full-fledged conversations resonating through the hall. Her strong hearing, especially as it was unused to so many people gathered in a single area, made it torturous and her ears were twitching the whole time.

She was forced to adapt (still, it felt like her ears would bleed soon) when she saw formal looking people climbing up the stage. Her eyes though, for some reason, ended up on a boy around her age. He had long hair for a guy and had raven hair just she had. For a second their eyes met, but he looked away as if he never saw her and sat on a chair right beside an old man.

She then looked around for a seat herself and saw the crowd was dispersing in a confusing manner she didn't know where to go to next.

Soon she caught a teacher approaching her and gesturing for her to fall in line. When she asked if, like in her old school, she had to line up with her class, the teacher just looked weirdly at her recalling a tad too slowly that she actually studied type of systems in other places some time back.

"Oh." She said when she finally remembered. "We do it differently here. Here, auditorium gatherings are like classical theatre congregations." She smiled and so did Gon, as if she knew what the woman meant. But she didn't, so… she just followed the kids air-headedly.

As she walked, she looked around (mostly upwards) the grandiose auditorium. It had a high ceiling, she mused in awe, even if she jumped her record she would not even reach a third of its height.

When the person in front of her, a person with silver hair, stopped and sat, she did too and she quickly let her eyes end up on the stage. A part of her wanted to speak with her seatmates but they omitted the aura that they wanted to be left alone. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk anyway, since the people had quitted down. A few were whispering at most. So if she started chatting, she would be heard several rows of chairs away.

Then an old man went behind the podium and looked at everyone not on the stage. And everyone stopped talking. It wasn't that the old man had that powerful a presence, it was the opposite. Everyone, even Gon, was just taught not to speak when someone's behind the podium.

A minute or so later, he adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat. "Good Morning Freshmen, family, and friends." He smiled. "I am Hanamura Kuu, the school Principal. You can call me Kuu-sensei.

"First of all we would like to welcome you to our humble school." He said that with a smirk, and looked around. "Here, we do our best to make everyone feel welcome and experience the best possible type of education possible, especially in these times, where a lot of humanity's old achievements had been lost due to the Great Fire. We will need every one member of all generation to maintain our strong hold."

The old man then let out a light, echoing, chuckle. "We all know our histories, and what each generation's roles are. Your time, my children, are that of exploration and adventure. You are one of the few remaining generations who will rediscover our old ways, and one of the first to invent new things.

"And we, Nispedana High, have facilities and system to train you—to continue your academic life beyond here or not—to be that generation. And more…

"We have state-of-the art technical rooms, to keep the students updated with the latest technologies. Gyms and training areas to keep everyone in shape, ignore me." He laughed and patted his beer belly, and so did the audience. Gon chuckled too, but sadly her eyelids were feeling the opposite. "The food served are all extremely healthy but delectable at the same time. Trust me I can tell." He cleared his throat after laughing once more.

"Putting the school's miscellaneous functions aside," Gon's eyes started to feel really tired… such a long speech…

"…we have the most

…Qualified

…Teachers-

And she was gone.

.

.

"Pst."

_Zzzzz_

"_Oi"_

_Zzzzz_

"_Oiiii."_

_ZZZZzzzzzzz_

"Wake up!"

She blinked and everyone sitting nearby was looking at her. _Gulp_. And then her eyes ended up on the stage. A raven-headed boy with sharp eyes was on the podium, making her blink. Where was the old man? But her question was quickly answered when she saw the man who was supposed to be standing sitting a few meters behind the new speaker.

The boy's eyes were slightly wide (which wasn't much) but he quickly returned to an impressively composed state. He actually had a cold aura that didn't seem to care about anything.

She looked down and saw that she was not standing up after all. Her legs were dead due to sitting such a long time (probably just less than half an hour, but everyone knew she had a problem with sitting still) and if they weren't she probably would have stood up to be seen by everyone. In a sense, she was kinda lucky.

And fortunately, after a few seconds, everyone turned their attention back to the boy and he started speaking again. She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"Aiya~" She tilted her head towards her seat mate who seemed to be the one trying to save her from the humiliation in the first place. "Gomen nasai." She said, especially for him. "And thanks for trying."

The boy's eyes widened slightly and looked at her incredulously making her tilt her head in puzzlement. The boy just forced his eye to twitch and looked away.

"Whatever." Gon found herself staring at him. He had an unusual silver hair and sharp cerulean eyes. "And I wasn't trying to save you." He said finally, after an awkward moment of saying nothing.

She stared at his openly annoyed face. Gon frowned guiltily. Even when she didn't quite get why he was so annoyed, she knew she must have bothered this person very much. But then..., as dense as everyone said she was, she knew that if she talked with him now she would just be more of a bother... so she remained quiet and sat. She'll apologize to both of them later.

She turned to the stage and finally watched oddly accented raven-head with fly-away hair to finish his speech.

"Thank you, Feitan-san, for your wonderful speech." the principal said, replacing the boy behind the podium. "And congratulations again for being the top of your batch."

The boy didn't seem to care and just sat back down apathetically. It didn't take long for the ceremony to end and they were dismissed. The people stood up and headed for the two double doors.

Gon walked passively and as soon as she arrived outside, she tried observing the people while making sure her former seatmate was still in sight.

She didn't know why everyone was just going out looking as if they have a direction… or maybe they already have?

She probably slept through it.

But putting aside the urge to hit her head on the nicely painted wall, she told herself to put the important things first. And by that she meant her apology. She quickly ran to the silver-headed boy and called for his attention when he was about a meter away.

"Ano…"

"What?"

"Gomen nasai again for earlier."

"Why are you apologizing so much?"

"Because Mito-san said that if I offended somebody who didn't deserve it I should apologize until I am forgiven."

"Che." He said and turned around. "That's just annoying."

_Step Step Step_

"Oi. Why are you following me?" She didn't say anything at first, but when she was about to, he pointed at his sleeves.

"Look." She stared at his shirt, specifically the cloth on his upper arm. "What do you see?"

"Cloth."

His left eye jerked. "No. Look closer."

And she did. With her torturous experience with laundry, she knew what he was pointing to. "A mark. A stain."

"Right. A stain caused by _you_."

"Eh?"

"By your **saliva.**_**"**_

"_EH?!"_

She knew that one of the reasons why Mito forbade her to speak with her mouth open was because food and saliva might fly out somewhere.

And obviously, a bucket of fresh saliva was much worse.

She instinctively went to touch it—to maybe wash it away—but

_Slap!_

Her hand was slapped away.

"Don't touch me." He said and walked away.

She puffed her cheek, after getting over the surprise. It didn't hurt, and with her highly trained skin and bones, she barely felt a sting. But it was nowhere near gentle.

"Mou, how rude!"

She said stomping to follow him. "I know you might find me disgusting but that was too rude!"

"Go away!"

"Like I said I can't leave you until you forgive me!"

"Haaaaaaaaa? How can I forgive you when you're so nosy?!"

"Mito-san said you should forgive and forget."

"WHA?!" he glared. "Who the heck's _Mito-san_ anyway?" He said with distaste, and it obviously wasn't tracked by Gon. Especially since flowers started floating around her.

"Mito-san." She grinned proudly, and the boy's eyes twitched for the nth time that day. "Is my beautiful aunt who taught me everything. She's always right. Well, not all the time, but most of the time."

"Then she's wrong this time. She probably always is."

She glared at him, making him wince. "HEY! Take that back"

"What?"

"She's always right!"

"Whatever."

"Ne, so can I wash your clothes now?"

"Ha?"

"Cuz I put saliva on it."

"No."

_Stomp Stomp Stomp_

"Oi." He said firmly and she stared at him. Seeing this was pointless, he let out a deep sigh. "Look, you- -It's fine already."

She stared at him in puzzlement.

"I forgive you." He said just to shoo her away and hoping his annoyance would too. But then, she _beamed_, effectively shooing all the annoyance away.

He turned around, and found a second later it was only the annoyance that left him be. Gon was still following him.

And he gritted his teeth, and acted extremely annoyed. Acted. For some odd reason he wasn't quite feeling as annoyed as he was supposed to. "_Why_… are you still following me!? Didn't you say you would leave me alone if I forgive you?"

"I did." She mumbled and looked shyly at the grass. "But… only if you want to." She said and looked at his suddenly- -surprised face. She stared at him and tried to figure out whether or not he was surprised that she didn't get him and leave, or something else.

But Gon didn't want to leave him alone.

"Well…? Do you _want_ me to leave?" She asked sincerely not knowing the answer. Gon was sure _she_ did not want to leave him, and she wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not… that the boy felt the same.

Maybe it was just her, after all…? But the stubborn part of her was telling her whichever theory was right she should not leave him alone.

"…"

"So, do you?" She asked, unconsciously leaning a bit closer, and the silver-head reflexively curved his body away. He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze once more. He turned around.

"Whatever." He said and slightly tilted his head to look at the stiff Gon. "Do whatever you want."

And Gon smiled brightly again, and rousing the same reaction from Killua: Making him turn his head away again.

…

They walked under an odd type of silence to the interior of the building for the freshmen. It was the arcaded building she saw before and her daydream came true (the one with her walking under the arcaded corridor) very quickly making her even more bubbly.

"Hmph." The boy muttered under his breath pulling her out of her trance. She stared at him and wondered what was wrong, and when nothing came, she just assumed it was nothing big. So she smiled and increased her pace so that they were walking side-by-side.

"Ne. What's your name?" She asked, and the boy did not even turn his head to face her. "I'm Antigone. Gon, for short!"

"Killua." Was all he said. And neither noticed they were already alone in the corridor.

"Nice to meet you, Killua!" She smiled and walked faster, turned around, and started walking backwards facing him. Now they were face to face as they strode.

Killua batted an eyelid at the sudden movement. "W-What?"

"You keep looking away." She grinned, just stating the obvious. She continued that way and Killua just watched her, unable to look away now- -not only because she'd probably move to wherever he was looking, but also because frankly she was… well, quite pleasing to look at anyway.

Not that that thought ever registered in his inexperienced mind.

But when Gon was just staring at him, he couldn't help but find the urge to clear his throat. It was kind of a reflex to push his turning-visible blush down. "Is there something on my face?"

"Oh, nothing!" She said as she waved her hand. "I was just looking at you."

"W-Why?"

"Why not?" she said as a-matter-of-factly and grinned. "You're my first fri—"

She was cut off when her back hit something relatively soft. She quickly turned around. It was another peculiar-looking man with light hair and firm stature. He kind of looked like a monkey.

"What could you two still be doing outside your classrooms? You're 15 minutes late for homeroom."

The two kids froze.

"EHHH?" Killua looked at his watch. It was true and him suddenly whipping his head to Gon's direction told her it was true. Gon automatically looked at her paper to know her destination.

Killua was suddenly behind her, and so was the new man. "_Great._We're classmates."

"Hmn. You two are my students, then." He said and walked as if to lead the way, as if he wasn't late himself.

"Banzai! Lucky~!" she whispered to him and made a thumbs up. Killua only stared. "Yeah, at least we're not going to get lost."

Her eyes widened slightly and he stared at her sceptically. "What did you mean by lucky then?" he asked since she obviously didn't think of his reasoning.

"_Because…"_ she said as if it was common sense. "I already have a friend and classes haven't even started yet!"

His steps halted.

"Friend?" He asked as if he didn't know what it meant. But he did, at least how _they_ defined it. They- his former family… and just the thought of them made his mood turn _extremely_ foul.

"_Killua… friends… they're unnecessary" He was 5._

"_But, what about Milluki-"_

_His aniki then patted his head and let out that trademark empty chuckle of his. "Who does he call his friends? His doll?"_

"_Well…"_

"_We allow him because they're not dangerous. But living 'friends' are. Stay away from them."_

"_But what _are_ friends?"_

"_They're the people who make you weak."_

People that make you weak…

"Killua?" She asked and he automatically walked to follow the teacher who was coolly watching their interaction.

"Killua?" she called again, but he did not even turn. Before she called him again, he glared at her making her flinch.

"Let's just get in okay?" he snapped, turning away, and pushing whatever he suddenly felt inside his gut. He didn't want to see that expression on her face again. But, frankly, he didn't know what he'd do if she kept bugging him about it either…

But fortunately, or unfortunately, she did not push the issue further. "O-Okay…" was all she said, and walked a few paces behind him. And even when it was a chance for him to gain his composure, he… had no idea why it only made him feel so much worse.

So as he watched the professor climb up the stairs (since the rooms on the ground floor seems to all start with '0'). When his eyes caught glimpse of her again, he reflexively paused his steps. Gon did, too.

"Killua?"

"I'm not mad, in case you're wondering." He said, pushed down his blush (since it _was_ an embarrassing thing to say, of course! As he told himself).

He coughed and moved to continue following the professor, and muttered something about getting lost again as he passed her.

And, Gon, who just happened to be absorbing things, smiled in the end. She laughed and ran to follow Killua.

"Hai!"

And as he walked a few paces in front of her, Killua found a rare smirk on his face. That weird, weird, feeling inside his gut- -he admit it felt pleasant.

And so whatever 'friend' meant to his family, or to Gon, for now... he really kind of liked it.

"Killua?"

"Hm?"

"Where's the professor?"

.

.

_Huff Huff Huff _

_"This is your- -huff- -fault you know."_

_"Ha...?!"  
_

After a minute or so of running, they finally saw him standing right outside looking very lax. How'd he get there so quickly? Without breaking a sweat, too...

_Well, whatever_, as Killua would all, one was not considered late if one did not get to class _after_ the professor did.

"Ano…" Gon mumbled staring at the professor, while Killua looked at the professor intently. After all, why wait for them before entering when he obviously got there (somehow) so far ahead of them? As hoped, the man gestured for them to come in and Killua stared at Gon (who was still loading the gesture).

"If you don't come in within 2 seconds, I will go in first, and therefore you two will be late."

And with that, the two flinched and sprinted towards the door, and went inside. The man chuckled at the utter adorableness of the kids, and entered the room himself.

.

"My name is Satotsu, and I will be your homeroom teacher." He said as he stood behind the teacher's table and surveyed his new class. He saw the two kids (his perspective favorites for this batch) sitting away from each other presumably because there were no available seats left. The girl sat right in along his direct line-of-sight, while the boy was on the far end of the room, near the window- a classic spot for brooding kids.

"Before I discuss in detail the rules of the school and choosing of class representatives, I would like everyone to introduce themselves." He said and as usual, he got various reactions. Mostly proud though, as the children of this school were taught to socialize at an early age. Nevertheless, there were a few uncomfortable ones.

He choose 'randomly' who would start and not to his surprise he ended up asking the his perspective new favorite to initiate the introductions. She was spectacularly twinkling in excitement, probably looking forward to knowing everyone in her class. Everyone, even the boy she was with albeit no one would see, was smiling at her when she was introducing herself.

"My name is Antigone Freecs. Call me Gon." She grinned and almost everyone repeated her name simultaneously. He somewhat flinched at the last name but did not show it. "I like fishing, playing, and sleeping. I wanna be friends with everyone. Yoroshiku~"

Satotsu did not doubt she would be friends with everyone. Especially since she became friends with the boy whom he predicted to be the hardest one to befriend. He looked at the record as the introductions finally ended up on him.

"What's your surname, Killua-san?" He asked innocently as his records showed none. _Odd_, he mused, the administration staff would usually make sure a full name was given.

"I don't have one." He answered and everyone gaped at him.

"I…I see…" he muttered and clapped his hand to get everyone's attention. "Now it is time for a discussion."

And a few minutes later..., he found himself sighing heavily while the rest of the class was chuckling. Why, you ask?

It was because Antigone Freecs was already fast asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a larger adjacent building, the senior classes were already being held. Kurapika blankly let her mind wander as she listened to the professor discuss about the History she knew all too well.

"200 years ago, the Great Fire happened wiping out 99.5% of the world population. Fifty years after that, human beings were lost in this world, barely surviving, and that 0.5% was further cut down by half." Her good-looking (as her classmates would say over and over again) blonde professor smiled and continued walking around with his book at hand.

"But soon we found a valley. A large valley the size of the country—a miraculous place full of vegetation. It gave the humans hope that the specie would survive."

"And here we are, a hundred and fifty years later, close to obtaining every ounce of knowledge we once had." He paused dramatically. "This event just showed just how amazing the human spe—"

_Knock Knock_

He was cut off by someone knocking on the door. It opened without his consent, revealing a pink-haired woman with her famous curvaceous figure. She had her hair up that day, which she rarely did since the principal had a talent in bugging everyone to follow the proper dress code. She was in the mood that day, so she could probably take the nosiness of the chubby principal.

"Pariston." She called and the blonde professor pouted.

"Mou, Menchi-san~ I was just getting started. And I was in the good parts, too!"

The pink-haired woman cringed. "Whatever." And looked at Kurapika. "Come with me, Kurapika."

Everyone whipped their heads to her direction, out of curiosity. No one was surprised.

And without further ado, Kurapika stood up, quietly excused herself, and followed the pink-headed professor.

* * *

*Several Minutes later*

After the discussion short of the subject, Satotsu suddenly announced that the choosing of representatives be left to them as he would have to leave unexpectedly early. He looked at the puzzled faces and choose Feitan, who barely spoke beyond saying his name during the introduction (everyone knew him already anyway) to lead the selection. He then looked at Killua and the newly awaken Gon.

"You two." He paused and let Gon wipe the lethargy away from her eyes. "Follow me."

They did not stand, unsure if it was really them he called. Satotsu sighed and headed out the door. "Killua and Gon. Come." he repeated, and the two (after looking at each other in puzzlement) reluctantly decide to come.

_Tap  
Tap _

_Tap_

"Where are we going?" Gon asked, while Killua looked apathetic as usual with his hand placed nonchalantly in his pocket. Satotsu looked at them alternatively.

"To the president's office." Satotsu said, making Gon freeze at a memory.

'_Don't get into trouble.' That was her aunt._

"_How do I know I'm in trouble?" She asked, assuming there must be something else since urban life was much complicated than the environment she was used to.  
_

_Her aunt pondered for a bit, before patting her head.  
_

"_Probably when you get called to the Principal's office._

And with that, she looked at the man nervously.

"A-Am I in trouble?"

Killua smirked at this side of her he saw for the first time. Frankly, he didn't think she could even _get_ nervous. He thought it was cute, and that thought actually reached his consciousness, so he forced himself to push it away. He looked at her and forced a mask.

"You _did_ sleep the whole time." He said and she stuttered even more. Killua did not know what he was thinking. Obviously seeing different sides of her perked a lot of interest in him, so he didn't get why he was making it harder for himself to keep his mask. That... protective mask he knew all his life.

"B-B-But-"

Satotsu sighed. "There is no such thing. That is a grave misconception. Besides, we're going to the _President_'s office. He has a higher position than the Principal."

"So we're in bigger trouble." Killua teased, mentally glaring at himself. He shook his head and followed the professor instead, leaving a relatively incoherent Gon behind.

They walked more slowly since Gon was not moving from her spot. Mentally, they counted down. They were getting used to her 'loading' pace.

3

2

1

"_Mou_!"

…

**END OF CHAPTER 2 **

_**Coming Soon:**_**  
CHAPTER 3: ****Formation**

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**Phoenix-**Thunder- Haha. Glad that I finally got to make a decent summary, then! Hahaha. I was excited to upload this even with the mistakes, so I'm glad it turned out decently. haha. And thank you for the review~! XD**  
**

**Paplilio . Ageha- **hahah. He won't be a teacher here. XD That should be fine so ur chain pair in ur HS AU fic would be more novel when I read it. lol. thx for the comment~**  
**

**Into A Dream- **Ah! Sorry for the looong wait! T_T Hope this was worth it and thanks for the comment~**  
**

**LordOftheWest- **I;m relieved to hear that! I'll do my best to remain in that status lol. There are other HS AU fics out there, which btw I totally recomment~ XD thx for the review!**  
**

**HUNTER IB- T**hank you for the review~! Glad you comment and that you didn't forget. Hhaha. And hopefully I'd make the eye pair (NeoPika) likeable to many as well. ;)**  
**

**SelfcreatedCharacter- **Hehehe. I'm glad you like the twists~ XD Won't say anything about the abilities and the club yet though~ *wink* and thanks for the review!**  
**

**kiratazochita- **Lol, I'll try! XD No idea how to contact you though. Hehe. Thanks for the comment!**  
**

**mai-chan265- **I love putting my name everywhere, yes? XD Hope I can make it more interesting from now on~ Ah, thank you for the review~! ;)**  
**

**rentamiya- **Here it is! Hope it was worth the wait, but do tell me what you thought. XD Thanks for the comment!**  
**

**evergreen dryad- **Yes they'll form a club. ^^ I'm Trying to be a hipster here. lol. Glad Neon got cool! I'll show why he changed soon enough, and Jappon is like the HxH version of Nippon w/c is Japan. ;) And haha- it's not just you, the leaf thing was real funny. XD Thanks for the review btw~**  
**

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**...**

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Thank you for reading~

It would be soooooo awesome if you let me know what you think...? I truly love reading every one of your feedback!


	3. Formation

**Thank you so much for the support~! Hugs to everyone~! XD Esp those who gave extra time to review, also those who fav'ed, subscribed, and C2d! :D Hontou nii ARIGATOU!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter

Advertisement: A fanfiction contest, which will end in the 1st week of _April_, is being held by me! haha. Please go to the 'Stories Galore Forum' for more info. Thanks in advance for your participation!

* * *

**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3: Formation**

PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

Marble floors. Intricately designed floor boards. _Chandeliers _and dozens of candelabra.

Gon gulped overwhelmed by the air of complexity, Killua cringed at the pompousness of everything, while Satotsu remained stoic. They were then walking along fourth floor of the main building. The two children had never even _been_ into the main building, let alone the VIP floor. It was just as convoluted as their building, but it was much, much, more spacious... and, for some unknown reason, intimidating.

That walk really did seem longer than it was supposed too. Plus, Gon was still a tad nervous as to why they were called in. She didn't want to disappoint Mito-san's will so early in the school year!

"We're here." Satotsu stated, bringing her out of her daze. She blinked and looked up at the large double-door and Satotsu made a polite knock before opening it.

"President. (pause) Pakunoda-san." He said, after the creak and without looking inside, in acknowledgement before letting the two of them in. Satotsu soon excused himself, before saying his polite goodbyes to everyone. Gon was the only one who waved back, though.

Gon then turned to the people inside the room after her own goodbye to her homeroom teacher. She looked around in curiosity, there were two blonde girls in the room. One—a very pretty one— was sitting on one of the four chairs directly in front of the large flat desk. The other, a grown woman wearing very revealing clothes, stood beside the winged chair that partnered the table. The chair's headrest reached up to her shoulder level.

"Hello, Ms. Freecs." The older blonde smiled congenienially and turned to Killua, expression on her eyes slightly turning sly. "Mr. Zoldyck."

Gon flinched. _'Zoldyck?' _She tilted her head and turned to Killua as Pakunoda was looking at him. Her eyes widened the moment she did so. Killua's eyes were wide- he looked terrified.

And… mad?

"K-Killua?" She uttered, wanting to touch him somehow but decided against it as he forced himself to calm down, himself.

"W-What is it?" he faked a normal question, but he was still shaking. Before she could open her mouth, though, they were interrupted by Pakunoda asking them to sit down. "Killua Zoldyck." The woman called, rather firmly, making Gon suddenly whip her head back to wherever she thought Killua stood. _'Didn't Killua say he didn't have a last name? Did they get his name wrong?'_ she mused in puzzlement as she did so.

But he was no longer there.

"Killua?" She voiced out (again) when she realized that Killua was already on his way out of the room. But then she flinched again, and so did Killua—for the woman appeared by the door in a blink of an eye. Literally.

"Sit down on that chair over there, we won't hurt you." She smiled as if Killua wasn't glaring, before looking past him and turning to her direction. "You, too, Ms. Freecs."

"D-Demo…" Gon uttered in reluctance and looked at Killua.

Killua quickly noticed her discomfort _because_ of him and decided to toughen it out. He let out a deep breath to calm himself and walked towards Gon to join her on the chairs.

"Are you sure?" She asked when she saw him do so and he found a small smile found its way on his face.

"Of course." He said, and so they sat.

_Tap _

_Tap _

_.  
_

_Tap_

They passively listened to the sound of her heels as she came closer at a normal pace, and stopped when she got back to her earlier spot.

"First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Pakunoda Ryuseigai, and I am the School President's representative. He specifically wanted to call in you three for this."

"Eh?" That was Gon, the other two were as quiet as the chairs. "Why us?"

"You three have very… special backgrounds of interest to the President." Gon flinched when she saw Killua freeze. She didn't get why he was so agitated, but she didn't feel any hostility from anyone in the room. She wanted him to calm, so she placed her hand over his.

"Wha-"

"Calm down." She whispered, and hearing this Pakunoda nodded.

"That's right. I'll repeat, we won't hurt you nor are we under anyone else's orders." She paused and looked at Killua. "This is strictly for the school's advantage."

"What do you want us to do, Ryuseigai-san." This time, it was the younger blonde. She had a reserved business-like aura about her and... Gon couldn't take her eyes off.

"We'd like you to form a club of three for now. Additional members will be added accordingly."

Gon looked at the ceiling, as if to ponder. "Just us?" Pakunoda shook his head.

"You're adviser... is unavailable at the moment. She will return in a week time, from then activities will start."

_Silence_

"Aren't clubs supposed to be at least 5 people?" Once again, it was the blonde. It was just now that they realized her uniform's slightly different, particularly with the minor colors. Pakunoda's calm smile did not falter.

"That's for normal, inconspicuous clubs, Kurapika-san. And funded by the school council." She paused and looked at the three of them alternatively as if to emphasize something. "This club… will be funded directly by the School President's office."

She felt Killua flinch and it didn't take long for him to ask a question. "What… kind of activities?"

"Jobs, to be precise. Albeit not usually jobs the high-profile people from here would usually avail. So assassination's out of the question."

Gon felt Killua stiffen again. His skin suddenly cold, and she automatically held him tighter. But somehow, he couldn't look at her anymore. Gon frowned, not quite knowing what was wrong.

But, shivering or not, he was heavily guarded and did not stop asking questions. "What is in it for us?" He whispered. And at the moment, Gon could only wait for things to unfold.

"First I would like to tell you what kind of jobs, no?" Pakunoda smiled coolly, seemingly unaware of the tension. "We'd be asking you to _help _and protect your fellow students."

"Isn't the security and personnel enough here already?"

"There are things normal people can't do."

"…but_ we_ can?"

"Yes," came an immediate answer. "...and in time you'd be able to do much, much, more."

"Where this is going is sounding a bit disconcerting, Pakunoda-san." Kurapika intervened, similarly guarded as Killua albeit much calmer. The younger blonde stared at the older blonde for a long moment of silence. But in the end, Pakunoda didn't seem to be offended at all. What Kurapika said was treated like a neutral statement.

"Are you familiar with the term 'Hunters'?" Pakunoda asked almost rhetorically, until she turned to Gon. "What do you think, Ms. Freecs? Are you familiar with the term?"

"Err… those who… hunt?"

"That was a relatively obsolete definition, Ms. Freecs."

"..."

"Hunters are a new occupation to be established by the government." She stated and Gon could only nod. The other two stared, keeping note of every single word that came from the woman's mouth. Pakunoda sensed this, of course, but continued as if she didn't.

"We all know our histories, yes? It's a new job that focuses on retrieval of what we've lost. Many people did this in the past, but it wasn't very formal, and the people were not particularly trained.

"Hunters now… will have various types of jobs—from helping the Police catch criminals, to finding other things that humanity had before the Great Fire.

"It's a difficult and _will_ be a high-profile job. It won't be easy to just introduce it to the world so suddenly." She said, and after sighing softly looked at the three kids and gauged their reactions.

Gon was still loading, there was no surprise there. The girl's brain, she knew, did not have an aptitude in understanding abstract concepts. Killua was still thinking, too, but probably because he was _over_thinking things. Only Kurapika reacted basically as soon as Pakunoda finished her speech.

"So we're like a test subjects." She said, and of course, Pakunoda knew when not to lie.

"That's right. Hunters are supposed to be well qualified _and_ well-trained." She paused, and looked at the three kids expressionlessly. "And with your adviser as your trainer… You three shall comprise the first batch."

* * *

_/An hour Later/_

Kurapika walked in silence back to her room so to get her items. She calculated she'd reach the room just before dismissal. She'd get her lunch, and she'd head off to meet with the freshmen. She sighed.

Somehow... she got invited for a 'get-together' talk as club activities would start the following week. They probably wouldn't be able to do anything, since the adviser was out of town, so technically it would just be a social gathering. And yet... she couldn't refuse the over-enthusiastic Antigone's offer to 'bond'.

_Besides, _she reasoned, other than the fact that those two kids were kind of... interesting, she also needed to know them as much as she could so in case any problem roused she'd have enough data and the kids' trust. Suspicious or not, she needed to know everything about this club.

Something just didn't sit well with her. And her little chat with Pakunoda after the meeting did not help calm it down.

_Slam! _

_Kurapika stared at the door that the two kids' just used. She decided to stay behind to clear things up. She caught Pakunoda staring at her curiously, and she willed herself not to flinch.  
_

"_Really, why are the three of us chosen?"_

_Pakunoda remained silent as if she was pondering, and after a while her stance softened and she partly leaned her weight to the table. _"_You three... all have impressive physical abilities.."_

"_There are students here that are also qualified, then." Pakunda said nonchalantly but Kurapika remained guarded. At that time, this woman was still not any less suspicious. _

"_Since you know all about our backgrounds, you should be aware too of my financial status. I cannot enter any sort of club. I have a part-time job. The allowance the school gives me is not enough for the books that I need." _

"_Ah. We'll give you double of your allowance." the older blonde said almost immediately and Kurapika could only gape at her. "I know it's not as near as the pay you get from your job, but it should suffice. The knowledge and experience you will get from this job is incomparable, as you may already know. And..."_

_Pakunoda's hands moved and her eyes followed it by instinct. The older woman held her shoulder, and Kurapika shivered as if something was just taken out of her. She whipped her head towards the woman, but the woman looked shocked..., in her standards anyway. But she quickly gained her composure, so quickly that if Kurapika wasn't as observant as she was, she might have missed the abrupt loss of cool.  
_

_Kurapika opened her mouth to speak, and Pakunoda let go and went back to her usual cool position. "As I mentioned, we know students here thoroughly, we want what is best for them."  
_

_Kurapika stared.  
_

_"This project of ours...have you ever considered...,  
_

_That it could be a better path towards your… goal?"_

Her eyes widened every time she remembered, and her steps halted without her noticing.

Her goals… they was too private for _anyone_ to know. She didn't even have a diary, and even if she did she would not have written her secrets inside it. She thought her secrets would remain with her to her grave.

She clenched her fist.

That woman- - Pakunoda… was definitely someone to watch out for.

"Oi. Kurapika."

She blinked and turned to where the voice emanated. It was Neon, and he wasn't supposed to be here yet.

"Is class over already?"

"I skipped the subject. Baldy blabbers too much."

"But Hanzo-sensei…actually knows what he teaches" The self-proclaimed ninja teaches Home Economics though, the section with stitches and stuff. He was almost assigned to the culinary section, but Menchi made sure he died if he did stay there.

"Whatever." He shrugged and then directly stared at her. "Where have you been?"

"President's office."

"Why?" he asked and she paused. Should she tell him she'd be quitting her job tutoring him? She wondered if it would be easy to quit this job… or rather, utter it to him.

She stared, and he did too. "His representative just wanted to congratulate me on my continued scholarship program."

Ah, she lied.

"Anyway, be early later." He said straight-to-the point which meant he was implying that he didn't care about her issues (he probably forgot that he was the one who asked).

"Pardon?"

"I want to study some advanced subjects." He said coolly. "Be there a few hours earlier, okay?"

_Should she tell him?_

"Okay." She said, and he walked past her.

"Where are you going?"

"Around." He _did_ cut a period, there was no reason to stay now... was there?

Neon, sensing her stare, looked away. "Ja." He said dismissively, and walked away without giving her a chance to reply. Soon his guards (after politely nodding at her in acknowledgement and whispering something about Neon being a tsundere as usual) followed after him.

She watched their backs as they slowly disappeared from her view. Kurapika smiled.

She would miss them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gon and Killua just arrived at the spot Kurapika told them about. She said they would have the place for themselves, and it was true. It was a patch of greenery barely seen from the main building—even if it was right behind it, and there was also the fact that the bushes ensured no direct path was there. And since everyone there was 'classy' no one bothered raising their feet and tried to hop over the lovely flowered bushes.

And so, there they were, sitting on the grass- staring at each other's lunches.

"What are those?" Gon asked, eyes full of confusion, and Killua stared at her in puzzlement.

"Uh...Chocolates?"

She shook her head. "I mean… where's your _lunch_?"

Killua held out his chocolates again, as if Gon didn't see earlier.

"Here." He said nonchalantly, not knowing a second later... his ears would ring.

"_EHHH_?!"

"W-What?"

"But that's not healthy Killua-kun!"

Killua sighed and massaged his ear. "Mah, it's fine."

"No, it's not." she spat, and a second later she was filling her bento's lid with rice and viand. She handed him the _lunch box_.

"Here. Let's share."

"…s-share?"

"Share means we both-"

"I know what that means." He cleared his throat, hoping his incoherence would stop. "But is it alright?"

"Of course it is!" She smiled. "Why not?"

He raised his sweet to prove his point."I want to eat this for lunch, that's why."

"Demo…"

"Because what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours." He said looking away and opened his chocolate. To his surprise, Gon took his hand and she took a bite.

"Wha-" he exclaimed, and quickly pushed his blush down. He could only watch her munch his precious chocolate. Just once though. Apparently, she needed to speak.

"I chooka bite out of _your_ choco-ate, so _you_ should chake a bite on my food choo. Afder Kurapeeka warrives jough." She said as the chocolate was on her mouth. She continued munching, until _finally_ it's scrumptious volume melted in her mouth. Her eyes twinkled.

"It's good!"

Killua let out an imperceptible blush at her sudden beaming. It was odd, he usually would wrestle whoever ate his chocolates to death—even his brother Milluki. But seeing Gon smiling like that at him…

"Killua?"

"Hmn?"

"Thanks."

"A-Ah…"

**…**

_/Several Minutes Later/  
_

_Grooooooooooooooooowwwlll_

"Mou, what's taking Kurapika-san so long?"

"She probably forgot about us." Killua muttered recalling her sweat-dropping face when Gon forcefully offered to eat together. "She seemed a very serious person, especially during the meeting."

"Mou, don't say that!" Gon pouted cutely and he found a smirk on his face. But it was wiped off when she suddenly wore a serious, but altogether nervous, expression out-of-nowhere.

"Killua…"

"…"

"If you don't mind me asking… is your last name Zoldyck?"

"…it used to be."

"Used to?"

"I cut ties with them."

"Why?" he stared at her.

"Because I didn't like them."

"Why?"

"Do you seriously don't know that family name?" She shook her head and for some reason Killua suddenly seemed especially reluctant to speak.

"What do you… think of assassins?"

"Assassins?"

"People who kill other people for money."

"I think they're bad people."

"..."

"Killua?"

"…they... _are_ aren't they?" he laughed sardonically, after an uncomfortable length of silence. "They're hopeless souls surrounded by darkness."

"Eh? Why do you say so?" She asked, genuinely puzzled, and Killua gaped.

"Didn't you just say they're bad people?"

"Yes. But… Killua. They're not hopeless." She said calmly, tilting her head as if to make him understand.

"People change, don't they?"

**…**

_Interesting..._

A certain blonde mused as she wondered when was a good time to make her entrance.

Kurapika was standing a few meters away from the freshmen and there was this... smile that crept up her face the moment she got there. She suddenly did not feel guilty of being late, as she apparently let those two bond. It was a cute sight, really, and she knew they would be great friends.

Who knows? In the near future, maybe even more.

But when she felt the silence was getting too embarrassing for the boy, she decided to intervene by clearing her throat. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's fine." Gon grinned and Killua was scratching his cheek, obviously taking advantage of the moment to calm down. She sat in front of them and opened her lunch box as well. She watched the two argue as she did so. Apparently Gon was making him eat lunch because she ate his chocolate. Killua, who was really succumbing, could only counter the fact that he was getting the lunch box itself, and not the lid.

"That's your lunch. At least get most of it! (And why do you have chopsticks?)" He asked. She was using a spoon and fork, and for some reason she had chopstick with her. Gon didn't hear the last question and just pouted.

"But how long had you had proper lunch? We'll make up for those."

"Chocolates can be lunch!"

"No!"

Kurapika smiled, but being a peace-and-quiet lover (albeit that moment could easily be an exemption) she decided to stop the fight. She held out her fork and placed some of her rice, tomato, and fish fillet onto Gon's food.

"There." She nodded. "No complaints, Killua?"

"...no."

And with Killua's surrender, Gon beamed beautifully again and yelled "Itadakimaaaaaaaaaaaaasu!" before eating her fillet. The younger girl blinked, stared at what was left of her fish, and then whipped her head to her direction, just before gulping her food.

"Wow. You made this?" Kurapika shook her head.

"No. I cannot cook." She smiled. "My landlady was kind enough to cook for me. What about you?"

"I was forced to." Gon shrugged and then tilted her lunch box to show her food. "It was worth it in the end though. Wanna try?"

Kurapika batted an eyelid, but seeing it felt fine, she nodded. Gon then tilted her head to Killua who was just staring at his food, chopsticks still stuck together.

"Why don't you eat, Killua?"

"I..."

"He doesn't know how to use chopsticks." Kurapika stated earning herself a glare. She didn't falter though, and resumed her nonchalant eating. Gon was quite the cook, too, she realized.

"Y-You don't?" She yelled and looked at her spoon. "We should have exchanged tools before I started..."

"It's not really a problem. I'll-"

"Give it to me." She said, extending a palm. Killua blankly handed her the chopstick, and she snapped them apart. She maneuvered it and took some food from Killua's share.

Killua stared, absorbing what was happening at the pace of a snail. "Say ah~" And the next thing he knew, the food was an inch away from his mouth. He blushed. Furiously.

"O-Oi!"

And as she watched the scene, Kurapika could only chuckle. But an instant later she paused, upon noticing, and stared at the two who seemed to have started laughing with her.

In the end, she did not stop her laughter. And She didn't feel like holding back, either. Besides...

How long had it been? Since she last laughed like this...?

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 4**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 5: Sabotage**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS  
**

**Phoenix-Thunder -** Thank you for the review~! hahahha. And that is why I looove HS AU fics. So light~!xDDD Light for now, I mean. *cackles***  
**

**LordOftheWest- **Hai, it has been a while! xD But I'm glad it was still interesting!No, I'm relieved. loool. Thank you for the review, btw~!**  
**

**Papilio. Ageha -** Novel is unique. xD And I love Milluki~! xxD And a 2D Sister you say? interesting... loool. And yes, Killua hides it. Hehe. Oh, and thank you for the comment~!**  
**

**noctis18- **Thank you for the review~! I noted the critiques and I'll try to make Neon like-able. Ah,no worries tho, who will end up with Kurapika is undecided. I'll ask you guys after I introduce the... **  
**

**Aimee Sani-** I'm Gon there. But when you asked this, Bisuke and I switched places. xD It was for fun loool. Ah, and glad you found it funny! xDD And I'll try to make the club activities interesting. hehe. Thx for the review!**  
**

**evergreen dryad-** Hehe. It's a name from this girl from a Greek Myth. The sequel to Oedipus Rex, I think. xD And yes, Hisoka's gonna appear. Not too soon tho. ;) And... I'm kinda not answering most of your questions in this chapter. Ahahah, gomen! xD Oh, and thank you for the review of course~!**  
**

**rentamiya-** I'm glad you could review, too. xD And glad you liked the pairings~! Hope it's alright that I'm still undecided who to officially pair with Kurapika. ;) And I'm relieved you thought the wait was worth it. Thanks for the review~! ^^**  
**

**cctrail-** First of all, belated Happy New year to you too~~! xD I'm happy you liked the plot and characterizations! Hope I could keep it that wayy. xD And of course, thank you for the review~!**  
**

**SelfcreatedCharacter- **Perhaps it is a trick, perhaps it's not. *wink* Ahahah. Yes, they're going to meet again~! Kyaa! Kura's a girl now too though lol. Thanks for the comment!**  
**

**Silverflame- (ch1) **It will? I sure do hope so. Ahahaha. I'm working on it! xD** (ch2) ***skillfully avoids the banana* Here it is~! xDD Btw, I write another fem!Gon fic... who knows if it might interest you too! xD And finally, Thank you for the reviews~! ;D

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**...**

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Thank you for reading!

It would be AWESOME if you were to pause for a little longer (before going anywhere) and write something in that box below?  
I would love to read your thoughts~! Whatever they are. xD


	4. Sabotage?

**THANK YOU FOR READING! As always, additional hugs to the people who gave me even more of their time by reviewing, C2ing, Fav'ing, and/or following the story. *Hugs***

**WARNING: **I will repeat that _only_ the Yinyang pair is an official pair here. Kurapika's going to be in a small R. Harem and I had yet to choose, really. Help me choose after I introduce all the men lol. This chap's dedicated to the Eye Pair though! :)

**AD:** I published another AU story some months back. It's not school but about royalty and pirates! Hehehehe. It would be awesome if you check it out!

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter

* * *

**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4: Sabotage…?**

NOSTRADE MANSION

"She's late." A boy with unusual light hair muttered in irritation as he slumped back on the living room sofa. He extended his arms and crossed his legs lazily and he was oozing with impatience. He was in the living room adjacent his bedroom. It was basically his own personal guest room and this was where he studied with a certain 'Ice Princess'. Usually alone though, so he was especially irritated his two body guards were there to annoy the hell out of him.

It was Vaise, who chuckled, but Banshou who actually spoke with that ANNOYING grin on his face. "Saa.. don't be so harsh. You're the one who suddenly announced the change of time just because you were jealous."

He twitched.

Shalnark slipped that he was going to speak with her right after class. Probably to 'ask her out'. Knowing Shalnark, Neon was never really sure if he was just messing around.

Joke or no Joke, Neon told himself he was _not_ jealous.

"I am _not_." He repeated, and the two guards knew he was convincing himself for the most part.

"Sure you aren't." Banshou shrugged but before Neon could retaliate, someone had already knocked the door.

"Neon-bocchama." A female voice said politely, probably one of the maids. "Kurapika-sama had arrived."

"Let her in." He said coolly, unconsciously arranging his already impeccable tie. This made the other two grin even more widely, but this time he did not notice them at all.

"Sorry I'm late." She said, looking as immaculate as ever.

"Good that you know." He replied his hand waving for her to sit down on the table on the room's corner, and that they start immediately. It was then that he looked at the other two and sent them the 'leave me alone now' look. The two looked at each other knowingly and bid their polite goodbyes.

"So… what is this advanced subject that you want to study?" Kurapika asked as soon as she sat down on the table beside him.

"Genetics." He answered. Of course he'd been ready, even if he had no interest whatsoever with the subject.

"I see." She said and looked at the book already there. "Is this the material?"

"Yeah."

She opened it up and he could see that her brain was processing things a million miles per hour. Neon found himself staring at her while she was so concentrated at something else… again. A minute or so after looking and analyzing the table of contents she stared at him. "Which part?"

"The… one with the… orang-utans and monkeys and… how they're developed."

"You mean evolution?"

"Y-Yeah, that."

"Hmmn… this is kind of a broad subject. An overview, I suppose, would be that species have their own genetic pools which are the collection of traits a species could have." She paused. "Do you already know this?"

She probably saw the blank, bored, expression on his face. "…no."

She stared at him, but in the end she just shrugged and continued with her overview. Neon somehow felt she was… what? Rushing? If he didn't know better, Neon would say the cool Kurapika was _anxious. _

After a while of trying to figure out whether or not she was, he was pulled out eventually out of his daze. "…beings evolve to survive, otherwise their species would go instinct, and this happened a lot of times in the past. And as we all know, the latest mass extinction was caused by the Great Fire..." Kurapika read out loud and then looked at him abruptly.

"So, what part do you want me to focus on?"

Neon gulped. "T-That's already fine, thank you." He said and she blinked.

"…are you certain?"

"Yeah. This session is finished." Was all he could say. He was really about to invite her to eat dinner with the pretence of his 'father' wanting to chat more with his son's tutor.

"I see." She paused analytically, and paused, and then looked at the clock with an unfathomable expression that made his heart skip a disconcerting beat. And for the right reasons, too…

"This is our last session, by the way, Neon."

.

"What?" _Did he really hear that?_

"…"

"What do you mean by 'last session'?" He repeated, just in case. But, still, he could feel it—his insides heating up, almost as if it was boiling.

"…I, well… I already told your father I'll be quitting." Kurapika said, but he couldn't tell how nonchalant she was. His vision of rationality was blurring. He glared at her, no longer knowing how to control his anger.

"Without prior notice to the person you're actually tutoring?"

"I will tell you anyway, and in the end… I will quit no matter which one of you I tell first."

"Why tell him first then?"

"Because you'll go against it."

"O-Of course I will, you're my tutor!" He said, gritting his teeth, but then found himself holding back by instinct. "Only because of that. Nothing else."

"Of course." Kurapika said slowly. "I just thought I'll be let go more easily if I tell your father first. I'm sorry for offending you."

They only stared at each other for a while, and Kurapika felt like gulping at the sight of Neon. He was red with anger, she knew, and she was well-aware that it wasn't just because this incident hit his pride.

She knew, albeit he wouldn't admit it, that he thought of her as a precious friend as well. But before she could speak to soften up their goodbyes, he glared at her prior to acting composed.

"For formalities' sake, why _are_ you quitting? Did someone else offer you a higher salary?"

"No." His eyes widened.

"Then, why?" He asked sincerely, but once again his habits made him hold back. He made himself look at her with a scorn. "I order you to tell me."

And with that, she frowned. She hated it when anyone tried to order her around—even him. And despite openly stating he looked down on her, she came to understand with time (and some hopeful ponderings) that it wasn't really what he meant. His actions usually showed otherwise.

But in the end, knowing well (sort of) what he was doing with himself, she only sighed. "I'm no longer a servant here, Neon, you can no longer order me around."

And he stared at her, and she did not flinch. _Why are you still here, then?_ He asked, no longer knowing what she was waiting for. Normally people would leave by this time, correct? Especially under this tension…

"Neon." She called and he unconsciously slumped. He glared at the table without looking at her.

"At least tell me why you're leaving."

After some silence, she finally spoke with a rather unusual tone for her. "I'll be joining a club, Neon." And naturally, he stared at her as if she was joking—which was an even odder look as Kurapika _never_ joked.

"A _club?_"

"Hai." Kurapika said monotonously and continued before he could speak. "It is my personal decision, Neon. Don't worry. It has nothing to do with you, or the salary you give me."

"I see." He muttered and looked away. At that moment there was one thought inside his head: _He needed to be alone_. "Why are you still here then?"

"I just thought I should extend spending time with you like this." His eyes widened but she already had her back on him before he could reply. "I guess the feeling wasn't mutual.

"See you at school... Neon."

And she left, just like that…

…leaving a pink-haired bocchama to dream of how the Ice Princess he had grown attached to became his tutor in the first place.

**…**

_Two years ago_

A very expensive-looking limousine passed by a smooth asphalt road. It was given the view of a rural environment on both sides, even when it wasn't really a provincial area at all. After all, it was fairly near the city, but their destination was a very exclusive institution… and apparently, they showed it by isolating it from dense areas. And indeed—there were, literally, no signs of 'modernity' nearby.

Cerulean orbs watched the surroundings passively as his car passed by the length of plains and trees and grasslands. He even saw a few goats and cows and tons of birds flying around. If he didn't have an odd collection and a taste for dead things, he'd probably think it was a beautiful scene.

Soon, the vehicle stopped in front of an extraordinarily ornate gate adjoining a new territory from the one they just passed. After the driver introduced the owner of the car, the guards flinched and let them in in a scurry.

The drop off was fairly nice and surrounded by vegetation. A lot of cars were there and he saw a few heading to the designated parking lots nearby. _Clack, _he turned to his door which slowly opened by Banshou, and soon he went down himself.

Neon Nostrade stared at his new school only for an instant as he knew it was unsightly to ogle. Something like this normally wouldn't make him ogle (his weird liking ensured that) but this was, after all, the very first school he had been to so he'll make a slight exemption.

He walked inside rather confidently, followed by Vaise and Banshou. And soon they reached yet another gate, one only pedestrians could enter. And the vegetation and the decorations only increased from then on.

But then, he reached a point where his straight path was blocked by three boys. They all had amusingly different hair colors. Neon spent a millisecond to see that he could avoid them but that would take a quarter of a dozen steps, which was too much. So, he frowned and stared at the three boys. "Move."

"What the—" One turned around and the other two just frowned. Neon never did quite perceive the frowns—he never did. Whatever the expression of the others, he_ always_ got what she wanted so they never mattered.

"I said _Move_." He repeated. But they only stood there. Neon mused begrudgingly that they probably didn't hear.

"What if we don't want to? Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

Neon stared and then frowned, letting a few veins pop without restraint. "Who do you think _you're_ talking to?"

The leader scoffed. "Some child of some rich family? Well guess what, kid, we _all_ are." For a moment there the guards expected Neon to wear a flabbergasted face. But he was wearing that pre-tantrum frown of his. Vaise quickly intervened and stepped closer to the kids.

"Excuse us and _Nostrade_-sama." And their eyes widened and stepped back. Neon let out a pompous _'hmph!'_ and walked passed them.

"That should teach them a lesson." Neon even said as they walked to the auditorium. Banshou shook his head and warned him. "Everyone here are from noble families. You better not make enemies out of them."

"Che. But most of their money was thanks to my father. And my Father's powerful because of _me_."

"Well, that's true, but—"

"Shut up, Banshou." And he tilted his head the other way. "You too, Vaise." And the two guards stared at each other and sighed.

"_Very well,_ bocchama."

**…**

The three boys stared at the other three with a mix of surprise and annoyance. Their leader, an above-average looking boy with a military haircut glared. "How dare he?! He'll pay for—"

"What?" His blonde crony cut him off. "I can't do that! His father was my dad's biggest business partner!"

"Mine too!" The guy with the red hair agreed vehemently, making the alpha-boy frown at his friends.

"Well, mine is not connected to them at all." He muttered and then smirked proudly. "In case you two forgot, _your _families are also connected to mine. Besides it's not like we'll _publicly_ make an enemy of him."

The two gulped before staring at each other and then looked at their alpha-friend seriously. "H-How do you plan on doing it?"

And the boy grinned knowingly, gesturing for them to come closer. "Here's the plan…"

**…**

In the auditorium, Neon looked around. He was impressed with the hall, and rightfully so. But as he was instructed to follow a line, he refused. There was something thoroughly unlikable with being 'instructed'. He looked for a seat with a nice view and pointed on it. "I want to sit there." He said.

"B…But Neon-sama." It was the instructing faculty. "It's for the student representative."

"I don't care."

The poor faculty member started to sweat and was looking for help when she realized the two guards had already left her with the bocchama a while back. She gulped and didn't quite know how to handle the situation. After all, she was new here and she was very much informed about a certain very very important student. It would be very disastrous if she failed on handling this nicely—

"It's fine, Ms. Lee." They turned to whoever it was, the faculty breathed in relief, while Neon remained impassive. It was a boy with honey-brown hair. "He could take my seat, I'll be seating in front for half the program anyway."

"A-Are you sure Shalnark-kun?"

"Of course." He smiled and looked at Neon, customarily extending his hand. "You must be the Nostrade heir. Sharlnark Hugh. Nice to meet you."

"Ah."

Neon liked this guy already.

**…**

The next show of power was during homeroom. "I want that seat." He said again, pointing at the seat in the middle.

After all, Neon liked being in the middle.

And so, he turned his sights back to the professor and ignored everyone else… except maybe Shalnark and… _who was that?_ He mused. There was an eye catching girl just standing there by the window and reading a book as if nothing was happening.

She didn't seem to care about him and so he told himself he shouldn't care about her, subsequently returning his stern I-will-not-accept-no-for-an-answer look at his homeroom teacher.

The blonde teacher only smiled that usual (friendly but creepy at the same time) smile of his. "As you wish."

Professor Pariston, was it? He liked this teacher already.

**…**

And then lunch came and he, along with Shalnark and a few fangirls, went to the canteen. The canteen was nice, too. There were ample tables and one side was of curtain walls which oddly complemented the more classical look of the place. He caught a glimpse of the table closest to the windows and overlooking the open lawn which, he noted, also had a few students lounging around.

He went back to surveying the interior and pointed at a table. "I want that table."

"But, Neon-bocchama."

"No, buts. I want that." He said and his eyes caught glimpse of that same blonde classmate who was then eating alone and seemingly oblivious to the ogles _she_ was getting—yes, she was getting ogles despite his presence on an area nearby. _Disgusting_ he mused at the other men and told himself he was not like them, so he looked away.

She ignored everything and just casually sat on some corner table no one was sitting on. He shook away the imminent gape and stared at his guards. "Make that spot mine."

Vaise used her charms to get the students to change seats. Neon nodded in assent, and his three friends shrugged and joined him.

**…**

They were already eating. The four of them taking two tables (one was, again, courtesy of Vaise) while the two guards ate on an adjacent table. The two girls had bentos with small amounts of rice but the viands were plenty albeit also in small quantities. Shalnark looked like he's a food-maniac with three times as much food as the two girls' combined, while his was pretty normal in amount but the ingredients were beyond top class.

As they ate, he saw (with his uncaring peripheral view) some students holding an interesting piece of bread. His eyes wandered a bit and saw that there was a long line for it. He frowned. "I don't get it. Why would kids of such high status line up for bread?"

"It tastes good, apparently, according to the upperclassmen. Freshmen are trying it out." Shalnark said and then ate his large shrimp. "Apparently, the ingredients were a special type of Melon that was very expensive so the supply was limited."

Bansho whistled. "It must taste that good, then, for rich kids to line up." The girls nodded in assent and curiosity, while Neon… after staring at the line for a few seconds..., frowned.

"I'm not like them." He stated proudly, making the others stare. They were thinking (hopefully) that he meant he wasn't like them in the sense that he didn't like bread.

Apparently, they were wrong.

"I'm not like them." Neon repeated. "I would not line up."

And they flinched.

"O-Oi. Neon-bocchama!" The two guards immediately stood up to follow him. The two random fangirls they were eating with fret like the ladies that they were, while Shalnark continued eating and decided to just watch the show.

Neon ignored the stares of 3 other dozen people in the line and went straight to the cashier. "I want one."

"Please line up, Sir."

"Do you not know who I am?"

"But, Sir—"

"I am a Nostrade. If you don't want to get fired, you will give me one." He looked at the people in the line. "Does anyone disagree with me?"

And no one did.

And like that—along with the stories of his earlier demands—he managed to make himself known as one of the most spoiled students the face of the school had_ ever seen._

* * *

A week passed and his glorious existence had been widespread around the school. He was surrounded by Shalnark and about half-a-dozen girls with others ogling at them either admiringly or enviously or both. It was lunch break then and right on cue, upperclassmen arrived and invited him and Shalnark for lunch as they did during the past few days.

They could now eat on the 'Popular Lawn' which they found out the 2nd day of classes as upperclassmen invited them, being in very noteworthy family even in such a school. As he exited the room, with the girls bidding their 'see you next period's, he caught glimpse of his odd classmate—still that abnormally-attention prone above-average looking blonde. She was then walking somewhere orthogonal to their path… and opposite to the canteen.

He wondered where she was eating her lunch.

But he quickly shook the thought of thinking it was none of his business and just continued chatting with his new rich friends (whose names he couldn't remember). But then he excused himself, telling them he'll talk to his guards for a few minutes and he slowed down his steps and his guards were soon walking along side him.

"Did you see that blonde?" They nodded. "Who was she and why was she not fawning at me?"

"Kurapika Walker." Vaise whispered, having researched all people he could come in contact with. "She's a scholarship student." Banshou nodded and grinned in interest.

"I hear she tied with Shalnark but as the only scholarship student, they couldn't make her give the speech—she might say something out-of-context or naïve of the 'social knowledge' everyone else were trained."

"So she's poor then." He said monotonously, and frowned. "No reason to interact with her then."

"Disappointed?"

His eyes twitched. "No."

"You sure?" He looked at Banshou questioningly. He did not like that face. "You seem like you want to."

And seeing this annoying guard of his wouldn't stop with that grin, he glared. "Shut up Banshou." And he just hastened his pace.

**…**

Time passed by that day with Neon still liking the attention and the distractions from thoughts about that mysterious blonde (and meagre) girl. Physical Education was the next subject, apparently, and the class went to their respective dressing areas.

The area was pleasantly private as they were all given their own cubicles. He took his ivory black cycling shorts and shirt of epically high-grade cotton and went outside. He took a look at himself and marvelled at how nice he looked before finally going outside. He shook away that feeling that something was wrong. He walked outside and recalled he made his guards wait at the gym, since he'll be accompanied by many from the dressing area to there, anyway. Shalnark had a different class that time though so he was surrounded by fans. Those three guys from his first day were even there humbly standing behind him. They became his fans, too.

From the room to the gym, he could tell he was being stared at… as usual, so he didn't think much of it. But eventually, he segregated from the group and just walked around to find his guards. At first and automatically because he probably looked good… not to be narcissistic but he _did _have a beautiful face and a beautiful body. The girls were blushing as they stared after all. What he didn't get were some of the guys' reactions.

Was it his imagination or… were they _laughing?_

He turned around and saw that even more people were looking at him even _more_ oddly. It was then that, amongst the crowd, someone caught his attention. It was Kurapika wearing an uncharacteristically wide pair of eyes. Suddenly, he felt bare and embarrassed, with that pride suddenly pushed to be a small part of his current thoughts. But to his further dismay, she turned around looking disgusted and he willed himself to continue walking. But then, all of a sudden—

Someone laughed out loud.

He found himself walking faster to an isolated area keeping his growing blush at bay. He didn't like this feeling—not at all! He felt helpless (where _were_ his guards) and humiliated. And what was even more disconcerting was the fact that, when that girl finally showed some emotion, it was _that_ and that face was etched inside his head.

But then—just when he was on the verge of screaming—someone called his name. It was an unfamiliar voice but it sounded rather pretty…

"Here." He blinked when he realized who it was (and that he was staring). Kurapika had appeared out of nowhere and held up a jersey.

"What is this for?" He asked with as much composure as he could and she pointed behind him. Reluctantly, he took a glimpse, partly just relieved she wasn't looking disgusted for who knew wh—

His eyes widened immediately at what he saw and he felt like fainting.

His shorts… It had a large hole in it.

_He had never been so humiliated in his life. _

…

Eventually, his sanity came back—and it couldn't afford to stay away for long as he wasn't alone and he couldn't quite afford to shame himself.

"How did this happen?!" He yelled to no one in particular as he tied his jersey for some more 'privacy'. Kurapika shrugged, "The garter used for our uniforms are top class. Someone must have sabotaged you or something."

"W-What? Who would da—"

"These three did." They turned to where the sound came from. It was Bansho and Vaise. He was about to nag them for being MIA when he realized they were carrying three boys. It was those same students he asked to move and were the people behind him that day.

"YOU!" He gritted his teeth, his face were red with anger. "_You_ did this?!" And breathed in. "I'll make sure your **whole **_**clans**_ will pay for th—"

"NEON." He was cut off by a feminine but highly authoritative voice behind him. He stared at Kurapika and she sighed before stepping closer. She took out something from her pocket and gave it to him. "Have this."

"What's this?" He could see what it was, he wasn't blind, but—

"You need to calm down."

"How could this calm me down?" He asked when he was fully aware he already_ was_ starting to calm… for some reason. She did not flinch.

"Didn't you like melon bread?"

**…**

The next day, he received token of apologies from the three clans and they were of business scale making his father a very happy and richer man… thanks to him, again.

But that day, there was one thing he told himself he _ought_ to do.

He and his two guards skipped lunch with the popular kids and followed Kurapika. To his companion's surprise, though, she _noticed_ them. Or maybe she already knew they were following, she just didn't say when there were people around—just as she wasn't oblivious as she was just good at ignoring everyone's stares.

And that she was actually paying attention sometimes…

"What is it?" She asked and Neon was pushed to her by his two very impertinent body guards. He glared at them mentally before putting up his tough front and handed her a box.

"Here." He said stingily. "I've bought you a new one."

She blinked and opened the box in front of him. He had no idea why he was so nervous. "The old jersey was fine."

"A person of my standing can't exactly have that." Neon said, "And as an actual token of gratitude…, I'll allow you to be my tutor. Your pay will be thrice the allowance the school pays."

Her eyes widened slightly and he blushed.

"I-It's not like I think you're my f-friend or anything." He added by reflex. "It's a reward for saving me, t-that's all!"

"I see…"

And she smiled.

He could have sworn he melted for the first time that day.

_/End of Flashback/_

**…**

_BACKYARD, Present _

Neon stood suspiciously behind a wall as he stealthily moved around, as he thought Kurapika went somewhere there. A week (he had to compose himself) had passed since she resigned and his eyebags were already evident. Bansho never failed reminding him. At least Vaise was glorious enough to add some make-up to hide it.

_That damned flashback,_ he mused in annoyance,_ made him lose precious sleep for consecutive nights straight_. Two years had passed since they met and it passed by quickly, hadn't it? He changed a lot since then, for the better, albeit he probably wouldn't admit the reason why.

In any case, Neon was certain he would bring her back. He needed a decent tutor, after all. No matter what the cost.

Even if he had to sabotage her precious "club"

And so… there they were trying to know more about this monstrosity that made Kurapika leave her post.

They were ample distance then with binoculars helping them spy. For some reason his guards said he shouldn't try as he couldn't hide his presence yet, something called 'In' or whatever.

"She's in her usual Lunch spot with the two freshmen she was called to the office with. There's a new kid though, a blonde. She's cute."

"They're just sitting there—" When he was cut off he looked at his two guards. Their mouths were open and they were frozen. "Whoa! What a kick!"

"That silver-head's unbelievably agile…"

"W-Why? What happened?" He asked while gesturing to grab Banshou's binocular. His hand was slapped away though. "OI!"

"No. They'll probably sense us."

"What? How would that be possible?!"

And when he finally took a look, he flinched instantaneously—the four heads turned to their direction. _Them_ who were probably a hundred meters away!

But what was creepier? That new girl narrowed her eyes and friggin' _ran_ to them.

"W-WHA!"

"Shit!"

"We should go!" Banshou yelled. "That chick is creepy—!"

But then they heard a tap and a gust of wind—indicating the window opened. "I assure you, I'm very adorable."

And they all screamed in terror.

**…**

The three sat in Seiza position as the scary kid walked in front of them to-and-fro after hitting them all or screaming in 'out-of-context and extremely rude' yell of fear. Soon enough, the other three arrived.

A certain not-as-terrifying blonde batted an eyelid at the sight of them. "Bashou? Vaise?" She paused. "Neon?"

"Who're they, Kurapika?"

"A… classmate and his guards."

The smaller blonde looked at the two groups alternatively and stared at her team, holding up a hand. The spies only stared at her in puzzlement (and perhaps flinched slightly in fear she might do something, how rude of them) while her kids did what they were taught to—and they focused their life force on their eyes to see the message.

_They could all use 'Nen', put your guards up._

And simultaneously everyone (the two guards pulled Neon back and went on a fighting stance) but Neon put their guards up—using impressive 'Ten' in the process.

Well, again, except for Neon. He had no idea why the atmosphere felt really, really heavy—and not just because of the people's expression. Heck, he could feel himself weakening. Kurapika noticed this immediately and stopped.

"Wait!" She said and everyone else did the same.

And everyone stared at Neon, making him feel a little too vulnerable. Banshou and Vaise never moved but also let down their guards. "We mean no harm." Bansho said. "And Neon-sama can use a special nen ability—but nothing else."

"What is your reason for spying on us?" That was the younger blonde and she walked up to them with authority that didn't quite fit her petite figure.

"Master and we were curious as to what club made Miss Kurapika quit her job as a tutor." Vaise smiled.

Neon blushed several shades of red. "No, I was _not_!" Vaise's and the younger blonde's eyes met and that knowing smirk women wear climbed up their faces simultaneously.

"Interesting." She smiled. "Do you suppose you want to join our little club? Especially since you could use the training…"

"Eh? I thought we were especially chosen for this." That was Killua. Kurapika and Gon were watching in interest.

"I didn't receive any instructions why I, Bisuke-sama, the club advisor, can't add more members." Bisuke said sharply (obviously not in good terms with the silver-head) before shifting her gaze at Neon, chuckling.

"So, kid, I'll repeat—You want to join or not?"

"He will!" Bansho said and Vaise grinned in agreement. Neon's eyes widened immediately.

"_What_?! No I'm no—"

But then Kurapika smiled. "It would have been nice if you did though." Was all she had to say before _poof!_ Ending the sabotage plan just like that.

And… that was how the Hunter Club found its fourth member.

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 4**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 5: Chains – Part I**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**AsukaSaru- **Thank you for the review and I'm happy you thought it was cute! xDD And that's nice! You see where it is going! Hahah. I certainly don't. looool

**Papilio. Ageha **– Yeah, I was surprised when I read, too. But I enjoyed the chap when I wrote it a while back so I didn't even try to change it. xD Kuroro'll appear in chapter 5 or 6. ;) Thx for the review!

**LordOfTheWest- **hehe. Hope I'm giving hints on your question in this chap lol. Actually, the questions will be answered on by one in this and the following chaps. xD Thx for the comment!

**Butterfree- **Hehehe. Glad that you liked it and thought it was adorable! Plus it's a huge relief to read the GB charas aren't OOC. xDD Thank you for the review!

**Phoenix-thunder **– Yay Pakunoda! I'll try to make her survive this story lol. And thanks! Hope I can actually ride on this type of story's potential. xD Finally, thank you for the review! xD

**P- **It does make sense! xD And it's the only name with Gon. Ahhaha. And wait—I used deep words? That's cool. xD Lololol. You used some too! *cackles* Thanks for the review!

**The Amber Raven – (ch2) **D'aww.. I'm very happy I'm making you feel warm and fuzzy. It's a nice feeling. xD And glad you found it adorable~! **(ch3)** hahahaha You do? That makes me sooo happy! xD Hope I can continue making the story adorable lol. Thanks for the reviews!

**Evergreen dryad- **Hahahaha. No, no it's fine. At least you reviewed. I love hearing from you guys! xD Banzai Killua! And wait—You like tomatoes and rice? That's rare. Believe me I know cuz' I love 'em too! Hahaha. And glad you liked Hanzo's job, the Hunter club, and the others! Hope I can keep it up and thanks for the review! xD

**EruFromFBAgain- **Yay! I'm glad I helped in your fem!GonxKillua conversion! xD And here's the update! I've written 3 fem!Gon stories, btw. *wink* If you're bored it would be awesome to see you in them! xD And finally, thanks for the review!

**Aladdina Magi- **Thank you for the comment! I'm glad you thought it was fluffy! I just loooove writing fluffily fluffy scenes! Hahahahha

* * *

…

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Thank you for reading this faaaaaaaaaaaar! xD

It would be so awesome if you pause before going anywhere else,  
and perhaps write your thoughts in this beautiful box below? :)


	5. Chains I

Thank you everyone for reading this far! Again, I'd like to send special hugs to those who let me know their thoughts by faves, following, C2s and most especially those who reviewed. I love you guys~!

A/N: The 'Chains' series would probably consist of 2 or 3 parts. Depends. And as always, the title pertained to more than one 'sense' of the word. They're just expanded on a bit more.

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter

* * *

**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5: Chains – Part I**

Freecs Residence

_Clack_

_Clack_

CLACK

Huge honey-brown eyes opened abruptly at an almost familiar sound. She stretched a bit and turned her head to the direction of where it emitted, namely: the window. Her eyes were quickly filled with energy as soon as she saw what exactly was making the noise.

"Dove-chan!" She yelled and jumped out of bed, opening the window and let the letter-carrying love inside her room. She smiled and petted the dove, subsequently giving it some crackers which it took gladly. As it gobbled up its breakfast she took the letter out of the little bag that it carried.

She sat on her study table (which she really only used in writing letters) and read it. It was, naturally, from Mito and it was a reply for her first letter the previous week during her arrival.

_Dear Gon,_

_I'm happy that you're liking it there! We miss you so much here already. It hasn't been the same without you, but I know I can't keep you here forever. For now, I can only hope Ging's not making you do all the house chores_.

She paused and found herself looking around her bedroom. It was simple with the walls light green in color, the ceiling flesh, and the floor of wood. Her room was furnished with similarly simple, almost minimalist, furniture including her bed, a cabinet, and her study.

Gon stood up and went out her room, leaving it open. She looked at the door in front of her for a while before finally heaving a sigh, and knocking on the door. There was no answer and she wasn't surprised.

Ging still wasn't home.

She sighed again and returned to her room to read the rest of her letters. Ging was barely ever at home during her week there. His job was a 'Law enforcer', but her concept of it really was someone who was sedentary in his city or even some smaller municipality—the fact he was rarely home (an understatement), she felt a little silly for having her original motivation for moving there.

And there was no housekeeper, not that she expected one, so she really _was_ in-charge of all the chores. It wasn't difficult though. The house was visibly new—to the point that even Gon knew that Ging bought it only when she managed to force him to take her along.

Indeed, she used all of her willpower to chain him into agreeing. But, it wasn't any different—she barely saw him in either case. She shook her head and continued reading the letter. Most of the body was about the townsfolk—what was happening and their own messages then and again. The letter ended with cooking, something she actually managed to master with the help of her awesome aunt.

_Anyway, in your stay there try to learn new recipes! I would love to eat your new meals when you visit here okay? I'm sure your new friends would love it, too!_

She smiled at that. Her new friends.

She quickly took another sheet of paper to reply to her. This week, other than her questions about her family, she would tell them all about her new friends.

Oh, how close they had gotten these past few days. She felt so comfortable with them—so… _connected_, and that was saying something as she had been comfortable with anyone. They were just_ special_ and the most banal things could be the most exciting conversation topics.

She and Killua even grouped a lot when it was required. She giggled at the recollection of how awful Killua was with home economics that Hanzo-sensei's aghast face was something that could pass for a face seen in a horror movie.

They were both still reserved, something she didn't expect to see changed _ever_ as that was what they were—and she loved them all the same. In fact, she felt really… special that they react to her unlike they do with the others. She knew that they never ignored her existence, and it was something she was thankful for.

Not that she wouldn't try if they did—she'd probably do a lot of things to make them her friends.

It was becoming a long letter, so she was particularly thankful her writing hand was uninjured. Her left hand, hurt by accident that happened a few days ago, just rested near the paper. She noted that it was, indeed, bruising and it was something that she shouldn't show anyone—_especially_ Killua.

She paused and stared at the letter, wondering if she should tell Mito about the new, awesome, things that she learned. She went against it in the end, for Bisuke hinted that it shouldn't be known publicly anyway.

She ended the letter with a heart-felt 'I miss you' and 'Hope to see you soon'.

**…**

Gon walked out of the house after getting ready and stared at it for a bit, soon doing the same for the other houses. The community was reminiscent of those residential areas seen in many areas especially Japan. She knew this because of the large plank saying its History and such in the middle of the community.

She continued walking in her uniform and as the people there hadn't seen anyone else in the dress, no one knew what school she went to unless they asked. She smiled at the people and most of them greeted her back. It was only now that she had the obvious time to be talked to, though.

"Hey, girlie!" A man, the owner of a flower shop, called. "I've been wondering—where does that uniform belong to?"

She smiled. "Nispedana High, sir!"

And the man looked absolutely flabbergasted.

But seeing as she would be late to school if she waited for the man, who was mysteriously just gaping at her, to speak…, she just grinned and said a polite good bye.

She walked to school as she stared into the sky. Really, the reason she went there in the first place didn't seem to mean anything. She left Mito-san and her grandma in the country for this after all. And yet, as she recalled the new faces that she met, she found a smile on her face—she did not regret her decision at all.

A lot happened, now that she thought about it, and a few more things happened the past few days. She would have had a lot to tell Ging if he asked but he didn't quite seem to be in the mood…

Anyway, the relaxing streak was broken two days ago when they met Bisuke, their young-looking advisor who arrived a few days earlier than planned. (Her vacation was supposed to end the following week).

It was odd, their meeting, and she couldn't stop picturing everything in her head, as if she they happened a few hours prior—

Her eyes twitched a bit at a jolt of pain in her arms, a wound hidden by her long sleeved uniform.

She fought the urge to check up on it and looked around. She did not want to take the road as a lot of student's limousines would pass it and the people she knew might see it. But of course, the forest route had always been her favourite anyway ever since she found it sometime back.

She smiled and took the route to the school, jumping tree to tree and managing to avoid the small branches even with her restrictive uniform and her one arm basically unusable. And as she entered her comfort zone, her mind started wandering around again—inevitably returning to the events two days prior.

.

_It was a Sunday. _

_Yes, a Sunday, and for some reason they got letters that Bisuke Kruenger, their advisor, had returned and would like to meet them that morning. The dove that arrived home had the official school crest embedded on its wing feathers, so she knew it was an official message. _

_And when she got the message, she did not waste a second to get read. After all, her father was not at home and she had nothing better to do anyway. She'd see her new friends and that was something she need not ponder about. She dressed up in her usual attire back in the country—a green button-up turtleneck jacket and similarly colored skirt. _

_She arrived at the meeting spot (the open area they hung out at, and was found out by the advisor somehow) and saw her two buddies. Kurapika was as pretty as ever with her simple blouse and kilt, while Killua's pale skin contrasted with the dark shirt and pants he was wearing. He, too, looked really good but in a different way than Kurapika. Gon mused it was probably because he was a guy. _

_And yet… Gon noted that he looked better and better during the days she hung out with him._

_They formed a little circle and chatted about things and wondered what kind of person their adviser was. They were not really that clear about what kind of activities the club would do, so it was hard to guess._

"_Maybe the person's really smart."_

"_Is it a guy or a girl?" _

"_I have a feeling this person's masculine."_

"_Gay?"_

"_How rude." A voice from behind them said and they flinched simultaneously. A girl around their age with two long pigtails and wearing a big puffy skirt and a mantelet appeared. _

"_When did you—"_

"_I was here all along."_

_Kurapika flinched. "That's not possible!"_

"_Oh?" She said. "You think your senses are that great?"_

_She frowned. "Who are you?" _

"_Bisuke Kruenger, your advisor."_

_They stared at her incredulously. "Liar."_

_Bisuke smirked. "I _am_ a liar—but not about my job." _

"_You're about our age, we—"_

"_I'm not. I just look forever young is all. Hohoho~" _

"_Prove it." Kurapika said and the newcomer smiled weirdly. _

_They looked at each other in suspicion, but then Bisuke looked at Kurapika and something heavy surrounded the air around and Kurapika looked even more serious. Killua stepped back, pulling her with him and the next thing she knew they were a dozen feet away from them. Killua was in front of her and doing a protective gesture, seemingly unaware of what his hand was crushing. _

"_W-What's wrong Killua?" She asked anxiously seeing just how pale he got—which was serious as he was really really pale in the first place. He shivered and glared at the new girl and said: "She's dangerous." _

_She blinked and forgot about the pain in her arm and whipped her head to her other friend's direction. "Kurapika…" She called worriedly but the newcomer just shook her head in disapproval. _

"_No need to overreact kids. I mean no harm—as I said, I'll be your new advisor and trainer." She turned her head towards Kurapika. "You could feel, right?" She said. "You don't know how to use 'it' yet but I can tell you're familiar with this sensation." She looked at Killua. "So are you."_

"_What are you talking about?" Gon asked, and although it was a new and heavy feeling, it wasn't hostile. She flinched when Killua held her arm tighter. His eyes widened and let go immediately. _

"_G-Gomen." And he paled further at the bruise he made. _

"_It's fine, Killua." _

"_I-I'm sorry."_

"_Calm down." Bisuke said and the panic-stricken Killua turned his head to her direction and glared. It was such a cold glare—and it made everyone in there wince. _

"_This is all your fault." He gritted his teeth and a second later he was already there and made a high-kick. Bisuke though, to their surprise used only one hand to block the attack and allowing more of that weird atmosphere to emanate from her. Killua immediately manoeuvred himself away from her._

"_It isn't." Bisuke corrected him calmly. "I'm just using 'Nen', something that I aim to teach you." She paused and hand-combed the small set of hair that was displaced. "It is a skill your future job description would need." _

"_Why?" Gon asked. It was Kurapika who answered._

"_Because villains like top mafia lords could use it."_

"_Precisely." Bisuke said and watched Killua as he slumped back and looked (or rather, faced, but actually looking away)_

"…_I'm sorry."_

_Gon only smiled, and everyone but Killua could see the sweat-drop from the pain she was trying hard not to show. "Apology accepted." _

_Killua looked at Gon and turned away again. Kurapika took the initiative to take her to the Nurse's office, and Killua watched Gon's back when he was certain she wasn't looking._

_Bisuke, seeing this, patted his shoulder. "Don't worry—I can see she'll be a reinforcement type. They heal quickly by nature. Now that I will teach you some nen, it would work even better." _

_Killua remained impassive and Bisuke knew there was nothing much she could do. So she just let him go and asked him to go check up on Gon, making him panic a bit, even when he didn't show it. "Also, pass on to them as an early announcement this 'club' will meet every day of the week—with the weekends our time to train vehemently._

"_Anyway, I will be waiting here. Afterwards we will go train the basics—Ten." _

_Gon looked at them as they spoke. Killua only nodded. _

.

And during the afternoon the next day, they got a new member.

* * *

She arrived at the school grounds on the Western side of the campus. She avoided the cameras and realized how easy it was to infiltrate the place given enough skills. It was probably why they needed more people and students to protect the campus. And only a chosen few could use Nen so they needed to be very careful, too…

She entered and stealthily walked around. She realized a minute later someone was sitting on a tree. It was a familiar figure and she stopped herself immediately. It took her a few seconds to gulp her nervousness in and called on to him. She saw him flinch and turn, she saw his eyes widen at the sight of her… and then almost falling on the ground. But he gracefully landed like a cat, anyway. He stood up straight and dusted himself, not making any more noise. He didn't speak for a while and he only stared at her. She did the same for a bit.

Killua had been especially quiet since that day, she mused sadly, but Gon didn't want to push him. Even she would feel guilty if, even when not on purpose, she hurt a friend.

"How's your… bruise?"

She looked at the sleeves that hid it and smiled. "It's well."

"The strength I unconsciously put in that grip… it could break bones."

She held up her hand, with its protective sleeve, and made her point. "It can still move."

Killua frowned and grabbed it, folding the cloth up in the process. His eyes twitched as he saw the bruise. Sure, it was healing, as she was a reinforcement type—but his chest couldn't shoo any feelings of guilt away.

He had killed countless of lives before—in some cases, he even had to torture these people. It was so strange just how bad he felt for hurting her like this. He could barely even face her now. He stared at the light bruise…

And without thinking, he leaned down to kiss it.

"K-Killua!"

_What did he just do?_

He soon realized what he was doing and his cheek wore several shades of red.

He stepped back again and apologized, and started scratching his cheek like that could relieve him some of the embarrassment he was feeling. He started walking away with Gon following him because there was no reason why she _wouldn't_. And Killua couldn't quite mouth a 'leave me alone' since, even with the utter weirdness in his gut, he didn't want to voice it out.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, someone called on to them and allowed him to catch some more composure. "Yahoo~!" It was Bisuke, much to his chagrin. Gon, on the other hand, was as welcoming as she always was.

"Ah, B-Bisuke-san!"

"How's your arm?" She asked and Gon said the same things she did to him. "And call me Bisuke or Bisuke-chan, remember?"

Killua scoffed at that. "The attempts of an old hag to feel you—"

And Bisuke punched the six feet tall sixteen year old silver-head boy to the sky again.

Gon Freecs stared at the two as they argued, as soon as Killua recovered and ran to them. At least Killua seemed very comfortable around her now.

"You two get along well." She said. And they simultaneously whipped their heads to her direction.

"**Hell** we do!"

She watched them banter as they walked to the main halls. She was slightly behind and she felt a little lonely. But more importantly, Gon honestly didn't feel like she was wrong at all.

And it felt a little uncomfortable.

**…**

* * *

Satotsu, as always, greeted his students like usual and they did to him. It was like any other day except… Gon didn't look so sleepy. She seemed to be pondering something which was really new. In any case, she probably wouldn't sleep at all that day as they'd have a new 'student'.

Right on cue, Menchi knocked on the door and she and the new 'student' were chatting, probably about events 2 decades prior. Satotsu was surprised when he saw her that morning. He thought she'd be a delusional semi-young-looking old woman, but she really did look sixteen.

In the end, he shrugged. "Meet our new student." He said, enticing quite a bit of murmurs, with gasps from Gon and a terrified gape from Killua coming soon afterwards. Satotsu saw, interestingly, that the only available seat was next to aforementioned silver-head and asked her to sit next to Killua—much to the boy's despair, and (interestingly) Gon's discomfort.

Satotsu finally found a way to keep Antigone awake.

"Bisuke-san." He said as soon as she sat on her new chair, with the Silver-head muttering silent curses to him and to the gods. "Please drag your table closer to Killua-san's."

"EH?!" Killua exclaimed in aghast. Gon blinked, while Bisuke followed.

"Well, she _had_ been a week late. This is easier for her to ask questions from her smart seatmate." Satotsu smiled. Killua's eyes twitched. Bisuke shook her head and called him a 'brat full of complaints' and Killua visibly wanted to snap at her. But when Gon turned her head he just sighed heavily and looked away.

"Fine."

Gon turned her head to face the front again, but otherwise did not move.

And _indeed_, Satotsu would note proudly, Antigone Freecs did not take a minute of a nap in his class that day.

Not that she absorbed anything, either way.

**…**

Meanwhile, in a classroom on another building, a class for seniors was being held. The subject was Economics, with their teacher in History, Professor Pariston, in-charge of the subject as well. He emitted that gentleman-ly, yet mysterious, aura most girls would fawn for, as usual, and as Neon would muse begrudgingly.

It was a good thing Kurapika seemed to be utterly uninterested in those types, and once again Neon found himself entering that illustrious train of thought as to what could catch Kurapika's romantic interests.

But after Pariston explained something, the whole class stood up, rotating the tables so that two desks would face each other. Neon only followed, and his table was paired with Shalnark's. But then Shalnark smiled and, along with the others, walked away from their seats. He looked around, maintaining his cool and soon enough realized what they were doing.

They were changing seat placement and the question now was: Why?

"I am going to pair you with random people for our entrepreneurship exercise. After all, in the real world—even with your backgrounds—there are plenty of cases where you are not very familiar with whoever you will be dealing with. This will be one of those moments.

"Further, I would like you to understand further the importance of these connections in our world." He paused, and held up some papers. "You can think of them as threads—but we would want them to be stronger like_ chains_, yes?"

And after passively following his directions on who's paired with who… he realized a tad too late he would be paired with _her_.

Kurapika blinked when he stood in front of her, and with a clap, they sat to the chairs they ended up on.

And perhaps a bit awkwardly, the begun.

**…**

"Eh? You two are close now?"

And then all eyes were on them.

It was one of his fan girls who asked as soon as Professor Pariston exited the room after classes. He didn't know how the bloody hell she got the idea since they were really just talking formally—even more so than any other pair.

"How did you come up with that conclusion?" He asked as stoically as he could. "Didn't we just talk?"

The girl blinked and looked at her friend who seemed to have gone to the same conclusion. Neon looked at Shalnark, who had that amused knowing smirk on his face and was just watching the whole thing in interest. "You two just felt… close, I guess."

Neon flinched, but he wanted to lie—as he would probably do if this happened a few weeks back, but the words wouldn't come out. He couldn't deny it. Or rather, he didn't _want_ to. But then the girls bowed in apology.

"We're sorry if we jumped to conclusions."

_Twitch_

"No—"He corrected without much thought (okay, there was no thinking that happened). But when he realized what he said—along with those surprised, startled, and annoying stares—well, everything went down on a landslide. It was like something holding him back just... broke.

"We… We were friends, okay!?" Everyone stared at him in incredulity—even Kurapika. _That_ stare of hers did not help him one bit.

"Geez. What's the big deal?!" He snapped and turned, poisedly stomping away from them and slid the door forcefully.

Neon was thankful he had his back on them. They would not see just how red his face got.

But as he walked away…, he started wondering why he always denied their relationship in the first place.

…

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After classes, the club, now comprising of: the young-looking adviser, Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Neon—and with honorary members/teacher aids being the last one's body guards—met in their usual meeting spot.

Gon recalled their lunch earlier that day. Bisuke and, surprisingly, Neon was eating with them. She was surprised since he didn't seem to even want to join the club (not that she'd understand why, especially since Neon seemed to be fond of Kurapika).

Neon kept complaining about having to sit on the grass when she distinctly remembered him eating at that 'popular lawn', also in the grass. It was better maintained of course, but still… grass was grass to Gon.

Kurapika remained impassive and didn't seem to mind, Killua was quiet, while Bisuke had her eyes closed as if tuning him out. Vaise and Banshou silently apologized for their master.

It was odd.

Everyone was so silent…

And it was even odder, Gon mused, as she stole glances of a certain silver-head who never looked at her direction again. She didn't have the energy to open up a topic like she usually did.

And Gon, now after classes, was determined to lessen the tension once more. Unfortunately, Bisuke arrived before she could speak with Killua, and she was holding a piece of paper. "Kids," she said with a smile.

"You have your first assignment."

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 5**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 6:  
Chains – Part 2**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**Papilio. Ageha – **N'aw. There was a 1-week time skip in the last section. I'll show her entrance in this chap. xD The great fire thing's as Pariston discussed. It's inspired by the Apocalypse thing. And thanks for the comment~

**Aladdina Magi- **Heheheh. Glad I made you laugh. xD I'll try to add in more humor sometimes. Lol. And thank you for the comment~! xD

**Nickirem . Aqua. Pearl **– Thanks for the comment~! xD And indeed! Banzai for flushies. So fun making them and glad you liked it. Thx for the comment, btw!

**Complicatedmind21**- Vote noted. Hehehehe~ And glad you gave this genderbending fanfiction a chance. xD Thanks for the review! XD

**LordOfTheWest- **Thank you for the review~! And looooooool. Glad you liked Oblivious! Neon, it was fun writing him. Ahahahaha~

**Anonymous – **Thank you for the review~! And your pair vote is noted as well. Some of their moments will be written soon~! xD

**Phoenix-Thunder – **Hahahah. Maybe he shouldn't but I thought Tsunderes were sooo cute I _had_ to make him one. Lol. Glad you liked the interactions and thanks for the review~!

**The-Chibi-Master564 - **Thank you the review~ xD I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you liked this one. Of course, you can tell me whatever you thought. :3

**RaWindsG-ing **– Hehehe. Thank you for the review! And yes, I will continue it. So no worries about that. Although, it _will_ take a while before I can expand the outlines to chappies. xD

**AsukaSaru- **LoL. I'm sure Neon would go all tsuntsun when he hears your compliment. LOOOL. And glad you liked the chapter and thank you for the review~!

**Guest [6/3/13**]- I will, I will! I will do my best. xD Thank you for the review and glad you find it interesting~!

**Asdfghjk **– Lol. I like your name. xDD And yeah~ Pika-chan can make anyone's legs go all wobbly. Hihhihi. And yeah~ the pres is 'him'. *wink* Thanks for the review, btw!

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Thank you so much for reading~ xD

I would love to read what you thought! (:D


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